


Illusions And Reality

by boleyn13



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Asgard, Loki Has Issues, M/M, Odin's Parenting, Post-Avengers (2012), Post-Iron Man 3, Pre-Thor: The Dark World, Prison, Tony Angst, Tony Being Tony, Tony Has Issues, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony-centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-18
Updated: 2015-09-08
Packaged: 2018-03-08 03:33:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 46,092
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3193703
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/boleyn13/pseuds/boleyn13
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the events of New York things have gotten back to normal. Tony Stark does what he does best - working on his suits. Now he wants to add a feature which he observed Loki doing. Creating true-to-life holograms on any surface within mere seconds. However his data doesn't give him enough information to master this new technology, so Tony draws the only logical conclusion - research on a test object is necessary. In the midst of the dungeons of Asgard. It's probably not wise to hope for cooperation. Especially not from Loki who really isn’t too pleased to see the Man of Iron again. Good thing that Tony isn’t the kind of guy who backs down from a challenge. It’s all for research after all.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Genius at work

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Polski available: [Iluzje i rzeczywistość](https://archiveofourown.org/works/5231018) by [tymianek](https://archiveofourown.org/users/tymianek/pseuds/tymianek)
  * A translation of [Illusion und Wirklichkeit](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/116281) by Boleyn. 



> Hi everybody,
> 
> This story was supposed to be only 4 or 5 chapters long and it's already longer. I don't know exactly where it is going to go, but it's a lot of fun writing it, so I guess there will be around 10 chapters. The rating could still go up, but at the moment it's all pretty harmless. 
> 
> I hope you fun with the story and let me know if you want more :-)

A little bit more. Just a little bit more. He was so close. So close. The bar on the screen was at 95 percent and continued to climb up. Yes, he would really do it and prove to himself once more, even though unnecessarily, that he was a God damned genius. 96 percent… What should he use to drink to this incredible success which would change science as we knew it? Whiskey? Scotch? Or for a change something trivial like cognac? Considering the circumstances champagne would be the most appropriate choice. Thanks a lot for awarding me with the Nobel Prize. I’m really sorry for the competition, but you never stood a chance. What nature or God gave me in good looks, I also got in intelligence and…  
Fuck, no! 

95, 94… Numbers weren’t supposed to drop. That was bad, really bad. That accompanied by the hologram which probably took great pleasure in showing him all that in the brightest colours. First it was only the bar which was starting to rise much slower, but then it had started to fall. Also slowly. Now it was just crashing down, straight towards zero and then his defeat was definitely being rubbed into his face, because the hologram began flashing in red. 

Compilation not stable

Frustrated Tony let himself fall back against the backrest of his swivel chair and pulled his hair. No! So close! Five fucking percent!

„Sir, I am sorry to inform you that the selected parameters and numbers in this compilation did not turn out to be stab…”

“Yes, thanks for the update, Jarvis, I saw myself how my Nobel Prize and the revolution of science as we know it vanished into thin air…”

Muttering under his breath Tony rubbed his thumb over the bridge of his nose and went over all the components in his head. Couldn’t he just have messed up a decimal? Then he could just laugh about it, try it again and the whole thing would be a nice story for his speech while accepting the Nobel Prize. Nah, he would have never made a simple calculus mistake. Which meant that he had to be sure that the mistake was in this primary draft. This also meant weeks full of new work. Normally that wouldn’t be a bad thing, if he hadn’t failed by only five fucking percent.

All he had done was working hard, then working even harder, he even had neglected the newest features of his suit and in the end it all added up to what? 95 percent of the powers of a god. 95 wasn’t 100 and that meant it was anything but godlike. He couldn’t leave it like that, not Tony Stark. 

“Jarvis, I have to start all over again. I need all the figures. Radiation, voltage, changes in the energy levels, everything that S.H.I.E.L.D registered. Also our own numbers from Stuttgart.”

The hologram changed and Tony found himself in front of lots of charts full of figures, inclusive the video footage of an alien god who created clones, holograms of himself. The only reason why he was sitting here. 

“Sir, may I remind you that you already have dismissed the figures that we registered in Stuttgart as useless.”

“Yeah, but since my perfect, useful improvement turned out to be even more useless… Probably I just missed something. If the red-nosed reindeer can do that, it should be a walk in the park for me. It’s all physics, simple, logical. I just have to think, study, research like decent scientists tend to do that. So, please create a suitable and appropriate working atmosphere for serious, scientific work.”

“With pleasure, sir”

Two seconds later AC/DC’s Big Gun filled Tony’s workshop with an ears deafening volume and he buried himself with the same delight as weeks ago in his figures. It was fascinating. The changes in the electric charge, every time Loki summoned an illusion. The radiation, even the slight deviations of temperature. Just because of a single hologram Tony had all this data, which would occupy less intelligent people probably for decades. He was only working on it for a couple of weeks and he was already at… 95 percent.  
After a period of time which felt like five seconds somebody touched his shoulder and pulled him out off his thoughts. How dare they? It wasn’t like he made some progress, but that was still no reason to interrupt him. Even if there was only one person who would do that and who knew exactly how much he hated that. “Pepper! Didn’t you see the ‘Genius at work’ sign at the door? That’s what’s happing in here.“ Tony pointed at himself and then at the hologram. “Genius. Work. Genius. Work. You’re disturbing the genius at work.“  
Tony didn’t expect Pepper to be in a good mood, but did she really have to look like she had just bitten into a lemon? Wouldn’t that be something that he was supposed to do? After all he was the genius which was being disturbed while working. Pepper said something, but the music was still way too loud. “Jarvis, the surroundings don’t have to be this work friendly anymore.”

Instantly after the music was turned off he got a taste of Peppers good mood. “Tony, I called you five times and now I have to find out that you have once again hidden from the world to work on your project X?”

“How many times do I have to tell you that it’s called project MIWCHTIWFM. At first it was called MIWWHHWACHTIFM, but I thought ‘Mad idiot wearing weird horny hat with a cool hologram that I want for myself’ was a little bit too long. So I cut it to ‘Mad idiot with cool hologram that I want for myself’.”

Tony really couldn’t understand why Pepper now looked even more like she wanted to strangle him. “You had a meeting with the board at 6 o’clock.”

Oh, yes. „I missed that, sorry, I was a bad boy. Punish me.”

“Tony!” Clearly frustrated she shook her head. “The board meeting wasn’t that important, I guess everybody would have been more shocked if you had indeed showed up. The problem is that I couldn’t reach you and you’re working on something… what’s obviously a dead-end.”

This word didn’t exist in Tony’s mind. Neither did abstinence, restraint or alcohol-free. “Ha! I am sorry, but I have to point out a tiny mistake in your conclusion. I almost got it today! I am one tiny little step away from the solution. Jarvis, please tell Miss Potts just how close I was today to decode how I can create a hologram on any possible surface.”

“Miss Potts, I was asked to tell you that Mr. Stark stated earlier today that his chances to obtain the Nobel Prize vanished into thin air.”

“Thanks a lot, Jarvis. While you’re already stabbing the knife into my back, why don’t you turn around a couple of times? Am I allowed to tell you who in this room is soon going to be replaced by a newer version of an A.I?”

“Leave Jarvis alone, he is the only sensible being here.”

“Thank you, Miss Potts.”

Jarvis wasn’t a real being, but sure, they had one time for to team up against him while Tony tried to do humanity a favour. Perhaps he should just ignore both of them and continue being awesome. Sadly Pepper’s sigh was distracting him. That wasn’t fair, he wasn’t disturbing her doing her job. “Tony, how long are you already working in here? By the way you smell I can tell your last shower has been a while ago.”

Shower? Right, but where was the point in body hygiene, when you were busy inventing things to make the next super villain look like a complete pussy. “That’s the reason why somebody invented deodorant. Thank God.”

“Jarvis, when was the last time Mr. Stark left the room?”

“Exactly 18 hours and 43 minutes ago, Miss Potts.”

Really? Damn, that definitely weren’t 18 very productive hours. 

“Did Mr. Stark eat or drink something during these 18 hours and 43 minutes?”

Now Tony was being punished with that mean look. At the same time reproachful and worried. Very good at giving Tony the feeling that he did something wrong. Being a work obsessed genius. So it was obviously a problem that he was working, but if he was outside, at a party, getting shit-faced, that wouldn’t be okay either. His life was really hard.  
Pepper’s hand squeezed his shoulder and the reproachful gaze disappeared, thank God. “Come, we go upstairs, grab something to eat and if it’s absolutely necessary you can tell me what’s been working out so well for you. Between periods of creating miracles even God has to take a break now and then.”

Actually Tony had still a shit load of work to do, but Pepper wouldn’t leave him alone and moreover his stomach did indeed start wanting food and it would probably give him less eye cancer if he could spend five minutes not having Loki’s ugly face directly in front of him. “Fine, Jarvis, order two pizzas. One with extra salami.”

Only 20 minutes later he and Pepper were sitting in the living room and Tony was happily eating his pizza. In the meantime Pepper gave him lecture about not taking care of himself, about having to take care of a company and not dedicating all his energy to only one project. 

“Absolutely impossible! I was so close! Do you know what it means when I am able to do that? This wannabe reindeer is a complete weirdo, but you have to give him credit that his holograms are incredibly helpful. When I am able to create them myself, the bad guys won’t even know which Iron Man they should attack. That makes the whole thing a lot less dangerous and that should please you most of all people.”

When it come down to that kind of things Pepper was a lot easier to talk to. “That is a nice outlook, but somehow I have my doubts that you can recreate magic by science.”  
“It’s not magic. Or not only magic. If it was only magic I wouldn’t have so much data. He isn’t simply casting spells, he’s changing the structure of his surroundings. He is doing that in such an advanced way that it seems like magic. I am so close to decode the whole process…”

Why didn’t he like Pepper’s gaze? Again. „When you’re saying that you’re close… that usually means you’re stuck.“

He wasn’t. Not at all. It wasn’t like he was stuck at 95 percent and had no idea where to look for his mistake. He had already examined all the data that he had. Research without a concrete research subject was always… Ha! Right, a lab rat would really improve everything. One could torture it a little bit and give a shit about what PETA had to say. 

“Let me tell you one thing, my love. I am not stuck, but just gave me an idea. I don’t make progress because I don’t have enough information. I hacked into S.H.I.E.L.D and stole their whole secret footage of Loki in his cell, but…”

“You did what?!”

Tony made a gesture to tell her to be silent, now wasn’t the time to get caught up in unimportant details. Like laws, morals or decency. After all this was about his research. If he had to steal from S.H.I.E.L.D to steal the only cool thing about Loki, then go ahead. They wouldn’t catch him anyway and even if, he would have pissed off the old pirate called Fury once more and that would be totally worth it. What were they talking about? Right, lab rat, data, holograms, Nobel Prize. “They should secure their data, if they don’t want other people to use it. Jarvis could wipe his ass with S.H.I.E.L.D’s firewall. Alright, I get to the point. The surveillance footage registered a lot of data, but it wasn’t designed to register the things that I need. Radiation, electric charge, the usual. I need more information…”

Despite Tony’s clearly excited look it seemed to be a clear case to Pepper. “But unfortunately you won’t obtain any more information, because that mentally disturbed, murderous research subject hopefully won’t ever again set a foot on earth and is currently sitting in a prison cell in some other dimension.”

Right, that could make the situation a little difficult, but Tony wanted to kiss Pepper anyway, because she just gave him his second brilliant idea of this night. “It would only trouble the research if the Vikings did sacrifice him during a ritual and put him as some kind of seasoning in their barrels of met. In a prison cell in Asgard on the other hand he can still fully serve me as a lab rat. This way the guy with a really awkward fashion taste would finally have a purpose…”

This little chain of thought wiped away Pepper’s relief. She already wanted to talk him out off his new idea. Probably she knew that she didn’t stand a chance. “If he is still alive… do we know that they don’t have a death sentence in Asgard for trying to enslave an entire planet?”

“Nah, I don’t worry about that. Thor would never let somebody harm one hair on his brother’s head… or give him a decent hair cut. They surely put him in a white vest in a nice cell, where the crazy ones belong. If the rat is already in the cage, I should be able to work with her. It’s not like there is some other use to him. I just would have to get the right equipment, sit a couple of hours in front of his cell and…”

“Tony!” A huge vein appeared on Pepper’s forehead and Tony brought a bit more space between them on the couch. Thank God that thing was so huge. “Even in comparison to your usual madness that’s unbelievable! You can’t really think about getting this close to crazy guy after he threw you out of the window!”

“Yes, that’s one reason more to pay him a visit, he was to replace the window…”

Did Pepper actually practice during her working hours to sigh this loudly? “Why do I even try bother to talk to you? This discussion is pointless, because… No matter if Loki is still alive or not, he is in Asgard and therefore out of your rea-…ch. No, Tony, no! Not that look, I know you, don’t even think about it!”

He was already two steps ahead of her. Tony didn’t even think about it anymore, he already had a plan that demanded his whole attention. “Jarvis, new project!”

“Under which name, sir?”

“Project WTGICWTTBATDROLT. Way to get in contact with Thor to be able to do research on lab rat. I need a nice working atmosphere in the workshop and all information S.H.I.E.L.D has about Asgard.”

Somehow he had the feeling that Pepper was shouting something after him, but he was already to busy to think about who to get in contact with Blondie. After all he needed urgently an audience in Asgard to get an appointment to take a look at the lab rat.


	2. Manners à la Stark

Pepper probably already thought about having Tony directly sent to the psych ward, but he didn’t really care. All he thought about was examining this new technique to make it part of his suit. If he had to have an intergalactic phone call with Thor or visit a crazy guy in jail, so be it.

It was surprisingly easy to contact Thor. More or less. He just needed to hack into S.H.I.E.L.D’s servers, which didn’t help at all this time and then wait for about 18 days. Which was totally the way he had planed things out. Wouldn't it have been weird if Tony had just woken up one day at 2:49 in the afternoon and had found, still half asleep, a Nordic god in his kitchen?

“Holy shit! Point Break, can’t you just use the door like everybody else? I don’t even have coffee in my veins yet and you already give me my first heart attack of the day.”

That didn’t seem to upset Thor, he was way too busy to smile brightly at Tony and to hug him. Not enough with that, he even lifted him up. When had been the last time somebody had been this happy to see him? Never and Tony was grateful for it. Nobody could stand that kind of greeting. “Put me down! I’m not your doll!”

“Friend Stark, it is a pleasure to see you!”

“Yeah, yeah, I'm also happy to see you, Point Break, but I’d like to have solid ground under my feet. If you want to waltz around, find someone else.”

Thor kept laughing, he probably hadn’t understood half of what Tony had said. At least he put Tony down and Tony could finally continue going after that one thing that motivated him to get out off bed. “You also want some coffee?”

“I would like that every much, yes. Thank you.“

So he was making progress to talk like a normal person, at least something. First things first, Tony made coffee, yawned loudly and stretched a little bit. If Thor had to show up at that such a bad time, he had to face the consequences. Though that didn’t seem to be a problem since the god could wait for his coffee without whining, instead the annoying smile stayed on his face. 

“So, what makes you come down to us mortals? Is it winter in Asgard and you want to lie on the beach? Or the other way round and you want to ski? Then you chose the wrong place or you want to slide down Broadway on skis?”

“I indeed missed your strange way to express yourself, Tony Stark. No, I have talked with my father about my return to Midgard. Perhaps my presence can prevent possible misfortune.”

“Why? Do you have misfortunes on your radar? Something we should know about? Or is that your excuse to get a little action?” After the first sip of coffee Tony was perfectly capable of wiggling his eyebrows.

Of course Thor didn’t get the joke, so Tony saw himself forced to explain it in a little more detail. “You visit your love to dance some waltz or ChaChaCha? Tango between the sheets?”

Obviously the Asgardians didn’t use any other words to describe sex than ‘sex’ itself, at least Thor’s gaze implied that. “I do intend to profit from my stay here to see Lady Jane. And you, my friends.”

“And my place is the first one you crash? I’m touched. Don’t tell Legolas or the Captain. Or the green one, he’ll get a jealousy fit and will destroy my furniture, just like the last time.“ To get the Loki-shaped hole removed from his floor had taken ages. Loki, right, that was always something Tony should talk about. The only question was how to bring up such a sensitive topic. The Tony Stark way? Or should he wrap it up, use nice words and take Thor’s brotherly love in consideration? Nah, boring.  
Thor got his cup of coffee which he was very grateful for. What did they even drink there in Asgard? That was definitely going on Tony’s list of things he was going to check out. He wanted to see a lot of things. Most of all the lab rat or he was never going to make some progress on his project. 

By now Thor was frowning at him and Tony got the feeling that this conversation was just starting to get interesting. “The reason why I came to you first, friend Stark, is that S.H.I.E.L.D informed me that you seem to have taken interest in their data concerning my brother.”

Now that was rather unexpected. Who would have thought that those incompetent jerks would ever be able to even trace him hacking into their system? Therefore Tony was even more surprised that Captain Hook hadn’t shown up immediately to fuck him up. No, instead Fury had told Thor. Probably he secretly hoped that the god of thunder would use his hammer to smash Tony’s head. Tony didn’t know if he was more offended or flattered. “Right, I was hoping that they had some juicy imagery.”

It was slowly getting annoying that Thor always looked at him like he had no idea what Tony was talking about. There was no fun in that, so he had to try in a different way. “Fine, I would like to get a tour in your zoo for your criminals. I’m working on a new technology to create holograms and I would like to make your brother jump through some flaming hoops. When do we start?”

Thor’s eyebrows almost met his hairline and Tony was already thinking about which words to use that even an Asgardian could understand what he was trying to explain. “You’re requesting access to the dungeons of Asgard to study Loki’s shape shifting abilities?”

“Voilà! 100 Points for this correct answer! So, when do we start? Do I have to take winter clothes with me? How’s the weather in Asgard? Damn, what am I talking about? If it there was any snow in Asgard, you wouldn’t be here to ski.”

Somewhat helplessly Thor raised his hand and he probably would have liked to slam his hammer onto the table to get Tony to shut up, but his family had already done enough damage to Tony’s furniture. “Friend Stark, I do understand your request, but I fear I have to tell you that it is indeed impossible. Mortals do not have permission to enter Asgard.”

„Oh come on, Point Break. You’re the son of the big boss. Put in a good word for me and we’ll have a nice weekend in Asgard.” Grinning Tony took a sip from his coffee and much to his dismay Thor’s gaze was getting rather stern. “You do not seem to understand the nature of your request. No mortal’s presence is allowed in Asgard. Me being the son of Odin changes nothing about this rule. Even if you could receive permission to enter Asgard, it still would not be allowed to seek out a prisoner in the dungeons. My brother’s punishment bans him from having any visitors.”

“I’m not a visitor, Point Break. I want to do unethical tests on him.”

Now that was something Tony really could have phrased differently. Thor’s eyes turned dark and the ‘Big brother has to protect the little one’ mode was kicking in. “Okay, re-start. That walking commercial for the loony bin, which you consider your brother, has a couple of interesting skills. For example being able to change his appearance and to create illusions of himself. That would be an enormous improvement for my suit. I watched all the footage of him doing that kind of stuff, but the data is not enough. I just need… a couple of hours with him, perhaps a day. Direct contact isn’t even necessary. He can stay in his stupid cell, I sit in front of it and register my dates. Come on, Point Break. Don’t make me beg. I pay you and your sweetheart dinner. In Paris? Venice? Reykjavik? You would feel at home there.“

To be honest it was annoying as shit that Thor refused to change his opinion on the matter. Like that would help him. Thor should better just accept that he didn’t have any other options than to give Tony sooner or later what he wanted. Or he would drive him crazy, Tony was a man without mercy. “We would make the world a safer place.”

“It would totally piss of your brother!”

“If you don’t help me to do it, I will create a drone to follow Jane around, so guys will never ever have a minute to yourselves again.”

“With the holograms my work would be much more efficient, more free time for you!”

“If I, as mortal, can get an invitation to Asgard, you might also be allowed to bring your girl to introduce her to your parents.”

“Have I already mentioned that it would totally piss off your brother?”

“I will so badly get on Fury’s nerves that he’ll start nagging you!”

Tony could perfectly see the moment when Thor’s defence started to come down. There was a thoughtful glance in his eyes and he tilted his head like he thinking really hard about all of Tony’s arguments. “And you do believe that you would be capable of reproducing Loki’s magic… in a mortal way?”

“It’s called technology and science, but yes, I am sure. Imagine we could use these abilities. Less work for us, the earth would be safer and everything would be perfectly fine.”

At least Thor seriously considered it now. About time, Tony could already be in Asgard and a whole lot closer to his Nobel Price. Maybe he should have mentioned that earlier. Thor’s little girlfriend for sure knew what the Nobel Price was. 

For a single second Tony even believed that he had convinced Thor. Sadly he still shook his head and Tony wanted to smash his own against the next wall. “Father would never allow that. Loki doesn’t have the right to see visitors. Even less so if the visitor was a mortal.“

„I don’t wanna go there to play poker with him… You father doesn’t even have to know it. We sneak in there, get my data and… we sneak back out.”

“That is absolutely impossible. Heimdall would know about our plan before we arrived in Asgard.”

Heimdall the best security system ever. Something like the Asgardian counterpart of Jarvis. “Fine, then I want an audience with the big boss. I explain him what I want. Smile sweetly for the camera and he won’t be able to refuse me anything.”

His proposal caused Thor’s face to turn green and Tony needed another 30 minutes to outsmart him, using reverse psychology. Of course Thor simply didn’t have the balls to stand up for Tony in front of his dad. If he wasn’t able to swing his hammer, he was just half a man. Loki at least had had the guts to try something on his own. Sick plans to enslave mankind, but hey, anyway he did have his own ideas and wasn’t too much of a coward to face his daddy.

After the last comment Thor would either crack his skull or take him right to Asgard to prove to Tony just how wrong he was. Luckily it turned out to be number two. Tony wondered what would have happened if he had made a joke about performance issues. 

***

It was more than obvious that by now Thor regretted his knee-jerk reaction, but what should he do about that now? They already were in Asgard and Odin knew what was in store for him. No way around it anymore. Tony on the other hand couldn’t remember the last time he had been in such a good mood. He was in a different world and he almost couldn’t keep up with all the new impressions which were thrown directly at him. Apart from all the freaks in their cheap Halloween costumes and their weird helmets it was quite fascinating. Maybe he could even do without Loki and spend some time figuring out all that other tech-… magic. At every corner, in every place there was something to see what couldn't be compared to anything he had seen on earth. Incredible technology on one hand and on the other they still used horses to get from point A to B. Not quite that easy to figure to these people out. 

Well, Tony didn't have the time write anything down, eventually they were on their way to a royal audience. Thor didn’t have the guts to actually smuggle Tony into the dungeons, they had to nicely ask for permission. Somehow cute. Now Tony Stark was already here, so they could be fairly sure that he would take a closer look at the lab rat.

“Friend Stark, I must ask you to understand that my father is the absolute leader of Asgard. A position that demands to be treated with respect and humility…”

“Yeah, yeah, I will perfectly schmooze the big boss. I am diplomacy on legs. Polite, open-minded, tactful and… Wow, awesome eye patch! I know somebody who’s got the same taste in fashion. You could throw a pirate themed party together.”

“Stark!” Thor didn't seem to believe what he was hearing, his mouth dropped open, but Odin, up there on the throne didn’t even bat an eyelid. Well, considering his age it was very possible that he had some trouble hearing and didn’t get…

“I suppose this the famous Man of Iron who my son already told many tales about.”

Well, what could he say? Tony Stark was famous no matter which… galaxy, dimension he went to. Still he wasn’t able to say anything, because Odin continued talking. Sadly Tony couldn’t play the good listener, that embarrassing helmet had captured all his attention. Listing, staring and at the same time trying not to laugh was quite a challenge. “My son told me about your extremely unorthodox desire. A desire which absolutely cannot be granted and…”

“Hey, woah, not so fast! Can’t I even state my case before I get kicked, your honour? Your majesty? El jefe?“ Tony gestured wildly so somebody would listen to him. Everybody did anyway, especially Thor, who looked like he wanted to die right away from embarrassment. Or kill Tony, whatever would take less effort.

However Odin raised an eyebrow and didn’t seem to care too much about Tony’s little show. Which didn’t matter, since Tony could clearly see in that single eye that they were never going to be best friends. Perhaps he should keep it down a little bit so he wouldn’t end up in the cell next to Loki. Ah, fuck it.

“Your behaviour is not appropriate, Man of Iron… You owe it to the sympathy my son has for you that this meeting even takes place. What is it that you seek to gain from the prisoner?”

Nah, Loki really must be in his father’s good graces if he was only referred to as the prisoner. However that could only help Tony. “Information. I don’t know if you noticed, your one-eyed-ness, but your boy did cause quite some trouble in New York. That wasn’t very fortunate, because normally it’s such a quite, peaceful town. The crime rate dropped, the streets are nice and cleaned, even the tourist information got better. Then he shows up, rips a hole into the dimensions and crashes the party with an army of ugly mutants… monsters, whatever, but we had to clean the whole mess up. I lost a whole weekend because of that, which meant a halt to my research, big harm to humanity, bla bla bla. I want compensation – information about his abilities. I won’t let him out, for sure not. I’d rather decorate you guys for taking care of keeping the psycho locked up. I just walk in there, knock at the door, take my notes and I’ll be gone again. I won’t mess up your great security system, I got my information, Loki is pissed off and everybody is happy.”

Now that was obviously the best sales talk Tony had ever had. He definitely would have liked to add a “Whatcha say?”, but Thor stopped him by apologizing for Tony’s rude behaviour. God, Asgard really was the place to be if you were an up-tight wet blanket. 

“What your friend misses in decency and manners, he makes up for with spiritedness and determination. Qualities which great warriors have to possess. His statements have truth in them. Loki’s actions have brought shame on Asgard and have deeply indebted us to Midgard. If the Man of Iron wishes to have this debt paid by obtaining access to the prisoner, so be it. But if the mortal tries to trick us, he will find a cell in the dungeons for himself.”


	3. Solitary Confinement

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it took some time, but here we go. Loki finally makes his appearance and Tony is going to find out if the captivity changed him in any way. 
> 
> Enjoy :)

Tony felt like a little kid in front of the Christmas tree. No, a happy little kid couldn’t compete with that. Thor was still pulling a face, of course, as he walked in front of Tony who was more or less waltzing down the hall. He wasn’t actually dancing, but rather loping. “Don’t pout, Point Break. It all worked out perfectly. Your old man was in a good mood.“

„I cannot share your amusement, Friend Stark.” Thro grumbled indignantly, but Tony couldn’t care less about it. He was in Asgard and his devices, which he intentionally brought for Loki, were already registering all kind of information. God knows how much knowledge he was going to gain. Why settle for a single Nobel Price if he could have a dozen of them? “Relax, Thor. I won’t mess up your nice home any longer than necessary.”

That didn’t make Thor happier, but at least he decided to end the silent treatment. Who could stay mad at Tony longer than a minute? “How long are you examinations going to take?”

“Depends, it’s not possible to tell that yet, but I know what I’m looking for, I adjusted all the devices. It can’t take much longer than a day.” Tony shrugged and didn’t even try to hide his anticipation. “To the torture chamber!”

Now Thor turned his head and glared at Tony. So big brother was watching him again. All the more fun for Tony. “So, tell me a little bit about what’s going on here? I know you’re all into that medieval stuff, like dungeons and horse riding. You’re also applying that to your penal system? Thumbscrew? Rack? Or are you a bit more up to date and open-minded? Water boarding? Sleep deprivation?”

As expected Thor abruptly turned around and looked utterly shocked. “Loki is called to account for his crimes, but he is still a prince of Asgard and Asgard treats its prisoners with honour.”

Tony should have known that Loki was just having a nice vacation here. Weren’t they lucky that Tony had come here to give them some ideas how to improve their legal system? “You know… You don’t actually have to pamper intergalactic dangerous criminals. On earth we’ve got some interesting inventions which could be of good use. Like the Spanish foot, some kind of gag or my personal favourite the Iron maiden. I can show you some instructions on Wikipedia.”

Thor didn’t bother anymore to give Tony an answer, so he just followed the god down the stairs. A lot of stairs. So at least Asgard did have the tradition to install their dungeons in the basement. Good, Loki shouldn’t have the privilege to see the least bit of daylight. Beside the immense anticipation Tony was now also starting to feel rather curious. First of all he still wanted to examine Loki’s skills, yet he somehow wanted to know how things had been for the god during his imprisonment. Wouldn’t it be nice if the dungeon had succeeded in finally wiping that stupid, arrogant smirk off Loki’s face, once and for all. After New York Thor had taken Loki so quickly away that Tony hadn’t even had the chance to rub his defeat into his face. Tony definitely had to catch up on that. This was going to be so much fun. Maybe he should have brought Bruce along. Only the sight of him would scare the shit out of Loki and probably cause him to piss his pants. 

“We’ve reached now the deepest part of the dungeons.”

Cool, so Tony was finally getting to start working on his lab rat. “Does he have a solitary cell?”

“Of course.“ Thor didn’t give him any more detail and they had now reached the end of the stairs. No doors, they only had a very broad, very bright corridor in front of them. The cells were located on both sides, but they contradicted pretty much everything what Tony would have normally expected from a prison cell. Here he would be searching bars in vain. The cells resembled cages, embedded into the walls. No bars to keep the prisoners where they were but some kind of glass wall? At second glance Tony discarded that idea, it had to be a force field. Pretty mean. The guys in the cells for sure had the impression that they could walk out of there any second they wanted, but that wasn’t the case. An illusion of freedom, cruel but still appropriate. Thor didn’t even glance at one of the cells, just continued to walk straight down the corridor. Tony intended to do the same, still he noticed that every cell accommodated more than one prisoner. Never less than three. Yet they seemingly couldn’t care less that the great Thor was walking past them. Thor and Tony passed every single cell until there weren’t any of them left. Tony guess that it was highly possible that Loki’s cell was situated a little offside, so the others weren’t in his field of vision. Was that supposed to ensure his safety or that of the other prisoners?

Thor’s steps were definitely slowing down and finally Tony could make out a new force field to his right. Just as transparent as all the others. Damn, Tony already regretted that he hadn’t thought of a cool line to greet Loki. So he had to improvise, but that was something he was good at, not a problem. When he was standing in front of the cell Tony already opened his mouth, but every smart or cheeky line that he may have wanted to say simply died on his lips. Tony had only been thinking about his research and the data, not about what could have really been waiting for him… He hadn’t had any concrete ideas, but even if he had tried to imagine the god’s imprisonment, what he was seeing right now would have never been part of it. “Good god! Fuck! What is wrong with you people?! What kind of sick shit is this?!"

Tony was perfectly conscious of his big mouth. Being a bold bastard was actually a character trait that he liked about himself, because it was pissing other people off. Therefore he had carelessly used all those terms and definitions of torture, although there was nothing that he despised more. Some personal experiences he wished he hadn’t made and since they had been so gruesome, he didn’t want anyone else to make them either. Not even Loki. 

In this case it didn’t matter if he had wanted to enslave mankind, what those sick bastards did to him made Tony feel sick. He really would have liked to throw up. The sight in front of him took him right back into that cave in Afghanistan and his whole body was covered in goosebumps. Tony was tempted to just turn his head away. What the hell was Thor talking about when he had said ‘No torture?’. If that right in front of him wasn’t torture, Tony definitely didn’t want to know what they did consider as torture.

The insane, yet so proud and dignified psychopath was gone. There was nothing left of him. In this cell there was only a broken figure that had got beaten up so badly over the last couple of months that there was nothing left in him that made him human. Or Asgardian. Loki or whoever this person was should have been on the poster of some human rights organisation. Right at Times Square. 

They had chained up his hands, his arms stretched out above his head. The heavy iron chain was attached to the ceiling and the way it pulled Loki’s arms upwards had to be painful. The length of the chain was so short that Loki was forced to stand on his toes. This was the only way he could ease the strain on his shoulders a little bit. Then it would be twice as bad when his body couldn’t take the exertion anymore and when his legs would give in. 

As if the position in which they had forced him wasn’t torturing him enough, Tony didn’t even want to look at his emaciated body. Just the sight of his bony arms made it clear that they let him starve. The prisoner wore dirty rags which barely covered his form. Yet the way they were loosely hanging down from his limbs highlighted gruesomely that there was barely flesh left on his bones. 

Tony still didn’t want to believe that this was Loki. That Loki could have become something like this. Since his head was hanging down, Tony wasn’t able to see his face. He didn’t want to either, because it would be even worse. 

Was he reading his thoughts? Loki raised his head and Tony wanted to press charges against those fucking Asgardians. Couldn’t they have just… thrown him into a dark cell and lose the key? No, they chained him up, tortured him and beat him up so badly that his face was covered in bruises. Some of them had to be older, others seemed like they had been caused yesterday. Whose fucked up brain could think of something like that? What could possibly…

Tony startled at the sound which escaped his own lips. Like a little girl who had witnessed something horrible and was now pressing her hands on her eyes. But Tony couldn’t do that. All he could do was staring, he simply had to take in the horror. He had never seen something like this and he would have happily continued to live his life if it had stayed that way. Between all these clear signs of abuse Tony had failed to see it at the first glance. A bight spark at Loki’s mouth. Tony had to blink hard. His eyes were playing him a trick, they had to. Nobody did something like this. Nobody could actually think of something like that. 

Still blinking didn’t help. There were stitches, strings, at least six from what Tony could tell. Somebody had sewn his mouth shut. Somebody had actually picked up a needle or a similar tool and had pierced it through his skin. More than ten times and Tony highly doubted that he had received some kind of drug to ease the pain. Was it even possible to endure such a procedure without fainting? Or, an even better question, how could somebody bring himself to do such an atrocious thing to somebody else? To hear somebody’s screams of agony while taking away his ability to even express them?

Confronted with this sight Tony wasn’t able to tell if he was rather disgusted or raging with anger. One thing was clear, he couldn’t stay silent a minute longer. So he turned around to tell this fucker Thor what he thought about all this. “What is this shit?! That kind of shit can’t be legal, not even in fucking Asgard!”

Thor’s gaze wandered from Loki to Tony, but he didn’t seem impressed by either of them. “Friend Stark…”

“Don’t ‘Friend Stark’ me! Doesn’t the International Committee Of The Red Cross control your facilities? Or some kind of intergalactic version of the Red Cross?”

“Stark…”

“Amnesty International? Greenpeace or fucking PETA for all I care!“

“Stark!”

„Hell, decent people wouldn’t even treat some man-eating hound like this and that’s your brother! Sodom and Gomorrah, are you getting off on this kind of thing or why…”

“Tony!”

This time Thor yelled at him so loudly and fervently that Tony actually flinched. Even more because Thor initially looked quite pissed, then frustrated. “Friend Stark, this is an illusion. Loki’s way to mock us.”

Illusions were the reason why Tony was here, nevertheless he didn’t understand what Thor meant until the tortured Loki vanished into thin air. Not the only change. The cell suddenly wasn’t empty anymore, but sufficiently furnished. A bed, multiple chairs, two tables. On one of them an amphora, probably full of wine, was placed, next to a plate full of fruits. The other one was covered in books, for sure a couple of dozen. Apart from the bare walls and the bed the cell would make a nice living room.

The laughter came to Tony’s ears, only then his eyes found him. Loki was sitting on one of the chairs, clearly amused and happy with himself. One leg dapped over the other, clad in green garments and seemingly doing well. Not a single scratch could be found on his face and his lips were slightly parted, so he could laugh at them. The green eyes twinkled amused. “I was not aware of your great concern for my person, man of iron.”

“Loki, enough of your inappropriate illusions.”

Tony’s blood was boiling. This psychotic son of a bitch really had the guts to play with him, to pull the wool over his eyes so that Tony was actually standing up for him? Made him believe that he was being abused? No, he was definitely going to tear him down now, he would… “That was… amazing! Fascinating. He can’t only clone himself, but change the whole room? That’s a lab rat after my fancy!”

Full of anticipation Tony arranged his equipment, which didn’t seem to evoke Loki’s interest. No, he rather preferred to keep his stoic and piercing gaze on Thor. There was nothing left of amusement in his voice. Now he was back at being that fucking arrogant, narcissist asshole. “Thor, do you bring me a toy from Midgard to make my capitvity more entertaining? It should not surprise me that you are once again demonstrating your lack of understanding of the concept of… quality. Couldn’t you find something just the least bit more interesting than this miserable exemplar of a mortal?”

Well, he evidently didn’t lose the tiniest bit of his eloquence, that was for sure.

“Enough, Loki.” Thor punished Loki with a dark glance, stripped of all affection. Still if there was a competition going on between them, Loki would definitely be the winner. Tony couldn’t care less, the sensors of his device are already going crazy, just because Loki was close. If Loki only pulled another stunt like the one from two minutes ago in front of the now set up devices, Tony would have enough material for the next five generations of Starks. Under the condition that his drinking hadn’t completely wiped out his ability to ever get a woman pregnant. Hadn’t he planned to make Loki’s captivity a living hell? Better get started then. “Reindeer Games, I’m sorry to disappoint you, but it’s the other way round. You’re my little toy to entertain me. Or maybe less toy, more lab rat.“

Loki narrowed his eyes a little bit and that alone made Tony feel an immense satisfaction. “So, are you more Pinky or Brain? I guess Pinky, if you really were as smart as you act all the time, they wouldn’t have put in this cage.”

“I am not familiar with the probably trivial meaning of your ridiculous expressions, mortal. You should not brag too much about your own intelligence. After all you needed to outnumber me and the help of a destructive beast to stop me.” Loki’s words were drenched in contempt, but he nevertheless succeeded to appear dignified and not like a defiant child who was lashing out.

“Yeah, the Hulk sends his regards. He would like to see you again some time, the last time you left quite an impression. In my floor.” Tony showed him his cruellest smile and was pleased to see a slight glint in Loki’s green eyes. Yes, he definitely remembered all too well how the Hulk redecorated Tony’s living room with his help. Didn’t hurt though if Loki understood that he was the one in the cage, not the other way round. 

In the meantime Thor had joined Tony again and glanced over his shoulder. “Are these all the devices you need?”

“Yes, but the force field cuts down the signal, it would be better if…”

Thor understood immediately where Tony was going and shook determinedly shook his head. “The force field does not only prevent Loki from leaving his cell, but also his magic. It cannot be shut down under any circumstances.”

Now that was a reason to miss the good, old steel bars. The damned force field shielded both sides. If Tony wanted his data, Loki had to create an illusion. Who knows how much of it Tony would be able to register.

“Ah… a Midardian scientist hopes to gain insight into my abilities by using some pathetic devices?” Loki had got up to his feet and had walked up to the force field. His lips formed a sneering smile, which Tony would have loved to wipe off his face. With his fist. “Do not get your hopes up, Man of Iron. It would only exceed your underdeveloped mind. Thor, how long did you have to crawl in the dust at Odin’s feet to convince him to let a mortal into Asgard?”

Tony would have never thought to ever hear Thor growl like a dog, but that was exactly what he was doing right now. “Friend Stark, is it necessary to have him talk during your examinations? Otherwise I would prefer him silent.”

Loki threw his head back and enlaced his fingers behind his back, only to lean forward at the same time. His face was coming dangerously close to the force field, but judging by the grin on his face he didn’t worry about that. “Of course you would like that, brother. Do you think that I did not notice that my little illusion did please you? Wouldn’t you like to see me like that? Chained up, like a monster is supposed to be? Not to mention…” He let the phrase unfinished, his green eyes fixing Thor and with a slow movement he put his hand over his own mouth. 

Instantly Tony felt again like he had some minutes ago. He would never get that image out off his head. The, in fact, rather beautiful mouth raw and slashed from the stitches and the treads. Loki's hand should remind them of it and maybe this gesture even had some fucked up meaning here in Asgard. From all Tony could tell, it made him sick to his guts and Thor next to him ground his teeth. “Enough, Loki.”

For a moment the brothers stared at each other so intensely that Tony started to doubt his own existence. Finally it was Loki who ended it and sat down on one of his chairs. He reached for a book. “This meeting has already lost all of its appeal. I would be grateful if you could make my captivity more pleasant by not lengthen your stay here any longer. If you still wish to stay, you could just finally separate my head from my body. That would for sure be a nicer experience than continuing this discussion.”

Having said that he turned to his book and Tony felt an itch in his fingers. He should really call Bruce. Loki was more or less begging to have his skull crushed. Maybe that would teach him some manners.


	4. Therapy session

Tony really wanted to watch a movie. Any poorly directed action flick would be more interesting than that and moreover he would have popcorn. Not to eat it, but to throw it at Loki. Like a real jerk, one at a time. Having a fairly good aim, Tony would hit him every time, for sure. Forehead, nose, right between the eyes. Then the god with the weird reindeer fetish would finally be forced to look up from his damned book. Which he hadn’t been doing during the last two hours. Reading about three hundred pages, but not once looking up. Probably Fury could have been dancing Cancan in his underwear right in front of them and Loki still wouldn’t have considered it worthy of his attention. Now Tony really should worry about the fact that such a thing as Fury in his underwear even came to his mind. Still that was a problem for another day. 

Though the sensors kept registering some energy flows, none of it seemed anything out off the ordinary. That wouldn’t help Tony to develop the holograms, he needed Loki to create another illusion or he wouldn’t have anything to work with. Sadly Loki was still denying his and Thor’s existence. Not cool. Tony was used to a lot of stuff, but people ignoring him wasn’t part of it and he didn’t like it. Even worse, he was ignored because of a book. What was the guy reading even reading? Maybe he could use that to work him up a little bit. 

“What are you reading? Going by your outfit I’d say you’re the Science Fiction kind of guy.”

Loki didn’t even bat an eyelid, his eyes just continued to scan the words before he turned the page with an almost frighteningly casual and elegant movement. He could even look arrogant while reading. “No Perry Rhodan? Maybe you’re more into Tolkien. I bet you’re the kind of guy who’s getting all excited over Sauron taking over the world.”

One more thing that Loki didn’t care about, he was still totally engaged in his book. “On the other hand, since you’re here for all eternity you definitely need another kind of literature. Fifty shades of grey? Judging by the way you’re into this book, it simply has to contain some pictures. Would be pretty cruel to be stuck here forever and ever and only being able to imagine the best things in life.”

Nada, nothing, he didn’t even flinch. It would have surprised Tony anyway. Loki surely was so pissed off half of the time, because he used way too little of it for important things like sex. Damn, Tony would be frustrated too.

“Point break, that’s not going to work, I need the tiniest bit of cooperation.”

. “As far as I remember, friend Stark, you haven’t asked my brother yet for his cooperation. All you did was talking about books.”

True, therefore Tony would use his famous charm. “Hey, Reindeer Games! Can you do me a favour and turn into a real reindeer? That would be very helpful and you would finally be of some use.”

Loki raising his head was already a little victory. Though his eyes still showed barely any interest. “If you want to steal something from me, Man of Iron, you should try to do it in a more clandestine way and not just asking me to give it to you. You do not seem to understand the principle of theft.”

Tony frowned. No, they hadn’t actually tried to guard information from Loki and he already knew why they were here. Another proof that Loki’s power of deduction was way ahead of Thor’s. “Men in jail don’t have rights. So do me a favour and show us a little trick. Doesn’t have to be a reindeer. A goat would suit you too. Obama or Sauron, since you’re so into Tolkien.”

„I should turn into a noose to be slipped around your neck. That would finally pout a halt to your babbling.”

“Right, whatever you want. Just get going, my reactor already starts to rust.” Tony made an impatient gesture and Loki… lowered his gaze and turned the page. Being ignored really sucked. In retrospect he definitely should have thought twice about how to get Loki to do some shape shifting. 

“Hey, Reindeer Games, I’ll stick around as long as it takes. So, if you want to get rid of me, you have to show me a trick.” If Loki wanted one thing, then it was to get rid of him, so that should be a tempting offer.

Loki, once again, didn’t look at him. “And to deny myself the pleasure of frustrating you? I doubt it.”

“You remind me of one of my exes. She always said the exact same thing. She was also a frustrated bitch with daddy issues. Like you.”

Bull’s eye, Loki’s hand stilled within a movement and he did indeed look up. A look that seemed to belong onto the battlefield, ice cold and he gave Tony the feeling that he was the most worthless creature in the whole universe. At least according to Loki. “I am looking forward to the day when I will cut out your tongue. I will feed it to some Midgardian beast.”

“Loki!” Thor’s voice was a growl and Loki was unimpressed. „Isn’t it enough that you have to spend the rest of your days here? Stop the threats.”

“Oh Thor… I know logical thinking has never been one of your greatest abilities, but sometimes I still get the impression that you make a fool out of yourself on purpose. If I, as you say, have to spend the rest of my days here, I can threaten whoever I want. Moreover it was not a threat. It was a promise.”

Tony yawned and didn’t make the slightest attempt to hide it. “Don’t you have some new line? I heard that one way too many times.”

Unfortunately that didn’t impress Loki more than Thor’s statement and he turned back to his book. If they continued this way it was going to be a very boring day. More importantly, Tony still didn’t have any useful results, which was unacceptable. Fine, Loki wasn’t going to play nice on his own, so Tony had to offer him something. If there was something that Loki desperately needed, it was a long a therapy session. He could lie down on the couch and Tony would listen to him and then officially confirm that Loki was a crazy son of a bitch and a hopeless case. Which he totally was. “Okay, re-start. Perhaps we started this thing all wrong. Normally prisoners don’t get a say in anything, but since you’re such a diva we can make an exception. I give you a chance to impress me. After failing so miserably in New York you have a chance now to show me that you are actually able to do something cool. Like shape shifting. Why don’t you… do some gestures, run around in circles, imitate a chicken, whatever shit is necessary to pull it off.”

Loki’s green eyes looked up from the book and they could easily belong to a snake. Threatening and attentive. “I am slowly beginning to understand why Thor appreciates your company, Man of Iron. Your minds seem to be very similar. Absent. Underdeveloped. Foolish. Limited. I could have a more satisfying conversation with a toddler.“

“Well, it would have to be quiet a talented toddler… or a little sociopath with psychotic tendencies who likes to terrorise all the other kids in kindergarten. You guys would have a lot in common. Wouldn’t they, Thor? I bet your little brother was an annoying, spoilt brat who was causing trouble on purpose. Did they send you often to bed without supper?”

The snake narrowed his eyes and the sensors gave a little reaction. The electric charge of the room had changed. Barely. Still Tony could feel his fingertips tingling. That wasn’t what he was looking for, but an infinite amount of possibilities had just opened up in front of him. If Loki was getting annoyed or pissed off he was releasing energy or magic, whatever one wanted to call it. So, if he wasn’t going to help voluntarily, Tony could still get information out off him. It was highly possible that all of Loki’s magical secrets would just poor out of him if Tony found a way to bug him sufficiently. A prospect that felt like Easter and Christmas combined. Science and pissing off jerks: two of Tony’s favourite things. The sensors had only started to show a change when he had talked about Loki’s childhood, so it was probably a good idea to continue from there. Or Tony would have if Thor hadn’t interrupted him. “You are wrong, Man of Iron. Loki has always been a calm child. While I was irresponsibly exploring the forbidden halls of Asgard and getting myself into trouble, Loki was dedicating himself to his studies and his books. Beyond that Loki never hesitated to come up with an excuse to save me from my well deserved punishment after I got caught. Because of this it is all the more painful to see how my little, sincere brother has turned into such a begrudging, malicious creature.”

There was real regret in Thor’s voice and if Tony had actually been able to imagine the described version of Loki, he would have maybe felt sorry for both of them. Apart from that Tony was way too busy being overjoyed because the sensors registered even more energy than before and Loki had even given up on being silent. “Begrudging and malicious… if you had only once bothered to pick up a book instead of a sword, you would have a more distinct vocabulary to describe me. Do not dare to talk about me as if you knew anything about me. As if you had ever seen anything in me worth talking about, brother.”

Tony didn’t have to be a therapist to understand what was going on here and it would be absolutely immoral and impious to take advantage of the situation, just to gain some scientific results. Then again, he was Tony Stark, what did he care about ethics and stuff. “Alright, I see… Loki was the little bookworm, who was never allowed to play with the cool kids. I bet you pretended that you didn’t care and that you preferred being left alone, but in reality you were pissed off that nobody invited you to their birthday party. There you go, daddy and brother issues. Some people want to conquer a planet, because they actually want to rule it. All Loki wanted was probably a hug.” 

The sensors went wild and Tony could see tiny green lightings dancing around Loki’s fingers. Amazing. Magic and emotions were tied to each other, that seemed pretty clear. Tony wondered if Loki could control his magic less when he was angry or if the rage only made him more powerful. Then again it didn’t matter, Tony would find out soon enough. Loki got over his little fit surprisingly quickly, but that still didn’t mean that he was in a good mood. “Mortals…” He spat. “You always think that every action is a simple expression of emotions, because you are not able to see the bigger picture. Only a fool would wonder why your race has still not achieved greatness. This makes it easier to understand Thor’s enthusiasm for Midgard.”

Enough of this shit, time to start talking business. “Okay, Loki, you’re annoyed by me and by your brother. I can understand that, but you can be sure that our asses won’t be leaving any time soon. As long as you’re not cooperating. So we’ll stay as long as we want. Fuck all that shit I could be doing right now. Taking care of my company, working on my suits, socializing… I can a stubborn dickhead. So? Do you really want to find out how much I will really piss you off when I actually start trying?”

Tony expected another fit of rage or death threads. Instead Loki crossed his legs and continued to read. “Do not ever underestimate my determination to give you a hard time, Man of Iron.”

Tony ground his teeth so loudly that even Thor next to him flinched. What? Loki wanted to have a contest who could be the worst pain in the neck? That game was so on. Then again Tony couldn’t afford to lose focus. “Hey, Point Break. I don’t want to keep you here all day. You probably have a lot of prince stuff to attend. Inaugurate a hospital? Baptize a ship? Something more important than babysitting me.“

„Loki has to be supervised as long as you are here. For the sake of our safety.” Thor crossed his arms in front of his chest and shook his head. 

Just great. With Thor staying here Tony definitely needed something lower Loki’s blood pressure. “Okay, then send some SWAT Team down here. You really don’t have to waste your time. Moreover I don’t believe that your presence here is especially helpful. So come on, go to a party, polish your helmet or whatever you do in your free time.” Tony looked at Thor expectantly, hoping that he could tell Thor with his eyes that he really wasn’t needed here. Of course Thor pulled a face, he didn’t like that at all. Tony didn’t care, there was a Nobel Price out there for him to win. Which he only wanted to win to piss other scientists off. So he tried chase Thor away who grumbled audibly. At least he seemed finally to understand. He beckoned one of the guards over. They shared some words and a few minutes later some other guards showed up. Five of them. What did Thor expect? That Loki would jump through the force field the second he was gone? Hadn’t he noticed that Loki was once again ignoring them? 

“I will be back in one hour? Loki, I am asking you to be sensible and… to show some good will.” The look Thor was giving Loki almost made Tony pity him, but Loki only turned the page in the most nonchalant way possible. Wow, that was a cold son of a bitch. Tony could see that the rejection was hurting Thor, but the Asgardian didn’t say anything else, just turned around and left. 

Delightful, with Thor gone Tony didn’t have to be considerate. “Alone at last, rock of ages.”


	5. Cockfight

The force field didn’t resemble anything that Tony had seen before, but this was what made it interesting. Even if its structure was unfamiliar. There were certain rules and even alien force fields had to stick to them. Physics. There to be some source of energy. Somewhere. If it was deactivated, the force field would collapse. Precious information that Tony would definitely remember. Not that he intended to let the rat out, but Tony believed that it wasn’t a bad idea to know a way out of any situation. 

Maybe he was playing it a little bit too cool as he approached the force field, letting his eyes travel across it. It would be helpful to see how the force field reacted to somebody touching it. Was it a simple barrier? Or would it give him an electric shock? None of the prisoners here had touched the force field. Not even Loki. That could only mean that Tony should avoid touching it. Damn it, now he really wanted to touch it. 

Finding its weakness would be a good idea, but tricky considering the fact that this was alien technology. Moreover he shouldn’t serve Loki a way out on a silver plate.

“It is a very simple principle. Almost primitive. Even your limited mind could grasp its functions.”

Well, look at that. The rat could talk. All by its own. Tony looked up and discovered that Loki was watching him. The book was still in his hands, but Tony had somehow sparked his interest. Perhaps by not trying to talk to Loki for over 10 minutes now? Obviously someone here was developing an attention deficit. At least when it was coming to Tony. Loki had ignored Thor as if his life depended on it. “If it’s so primitive and you know the principle so well, why are you still stuck in there?”

Loki cocked his head and his lips formed a grin. Oh, that wasn’t good. “The security measures of your planet are even more primitive. A lock and a key, both formed from steel or iron. A stick you put into a fitting hole. What is the use of understanding the principle if you don’t have the key or the material to forge a new one?”

Point goes to the psychopath in the cage. Loki knew how to deactivate it, but he couldn’t do it from the inside. Interesting information. Enough of that, Tony had to get to the point of all this. He reached out his hand, stopping directly in front of the barrier. He didn’t feel anything. Neither energy nor warmth. 

“You don’t make the impression of being familiar with the principle, Man of Iron.” The satisfaction in Loki’s voice was unbearable. Tony would be himself and rush things, like he usually did. Thus he put his hand on the force field. Only a millisecond later it seemed to tear his skin apart. A burning pain and Tony jerked his hand back. The skin was red, almost glowing and Tony could feel his heartbeat inside of his palm. Chemical burn? No, the red colour was disappearing surprisingly quickly, just like the pain. It didn’t help his hurt pride that Loki was amused. “Like I said, you don’t seem to be familiar with the principle.”

“Shut the fuck up, rock of ages! You could have warned me!”

“And miss the entertainment? I don’t think so.” Loki still grinned and Tony imagined a noose around his neck. Jerk.

“I am not here for your entertainment, but I’m happy if I came in handy. Now be a nice guy and do the same for me. Let me see how tough you really are.” Tony rubbed his hand over his T-shirt and startled when Loki put his book away and got up from his chair. Oh boy, if the princess actually moved his ass, then something was up. Behind himself Tony could hear the guards shuffling their feet. Should that alarm him? 

The way Loki moved wouldn’t let anyone think of a prisoner. Confident and a little bit condescending. The grin was gone, he looked rather bored. As if whatever he was going to do was something so trivial and unexciting like the daily walk from the bedroom to the bath. Loki stood in front of him, there was only the force field between them. What was the rat up to? 

He raised both his hands. His palms were white as snow. If this guy walked half an hour out into the sun, he would get skin cancer all over. Definitely something Loki wasn’t thinking about right now, because… “Are you out off your fucking mind?! What are you doing?!”

Tony watched in shock how Loki placed both of his hands on the force field without batting an eyelid. Tony wanted to scream, because he knew how much that had to hurt. Yet Loki didn’t show any kind of reaction, he just raised an eyebrow, as if he wanted to say ‘What are you looking at?’ Rather staring than looking. This was utterly fascinating. Was there anything else Tony could do but staring at Loki’s palms? They could still belong to Snow white. No indication of burns, nothing. And they were still placed on the force field. “Okay, no chance, this here isn’t normal…”

“So what is it, Man of Iron?”

Tony’s mind went into five different directions at once, although the case was pretty simple. “This is Asgard, so the cells definitely weren’t designed for humans. That’s why it reacted the way it did to me. It’s still highly improbable that it causes everyone else pain. They could have adapted the cell especially to your… needs or because you’re a fucking prince. Then again it wouldn’t have had any effect on me at all. Nobody else here gets even close to one of these damned force fields, so it’s probably you who is making the difference. Mr. psychopathic terrorist with a reindeer fetish, are you trying to impress me?”

Loki’s grin caused a shiver to run down his spine. Then the rat quickly turned around and sat back down on one of the chairs. One which was much closer to the force field. This time without a book. Well, that was a beginning, wasn’t it. “I don’t think I would have to try. Yet it is surprisingly entertaining to see that your intellect is at least superior to Thor’s. Although that’s not a task hard to achieve.” 

Ha, looked like it was time for some small talk. Crazy freak or not, Tony was sure that Loki had some interesting stuff to tell. For example how he could trick the force field without causing the sensors of Tony’s devices to go off. Sure thing that Loki wouldn’t tell him, but if he wanted to play, Tony could as well join in. He liked challenges. “For somebody who’s sitting in a glasshouse you’re throwing very big stones. Tell me, rock of ages, if you’re so smart why are you in prison anyway? While Earth and its worthless mortals are still enjoying the sweet taste of freedom. Kinda weird since you’re all… smarty pants.”

The corner of Loki’s mouth twitched, the topic obviously didn’t please him. “I admit that I have made a very unworthy mistake.”

Woah, again something unexpected. “That would be?”

 

“I didn’t just rely on myself. An army of brainless Chitauri, the seemingly easy way. The easy way isn’t my way to do things. I should have done it alone and used my strengths. Malice instead of savagery.”

Was there anything else Tony could do but staring at him? Did Loki really just admit a mistake? That was a trick. It had to be a trick. Didn’t mean that Tony couldn’t play along. “So you admit that your plan was bullshit… like I was telling you all along?”

“No, all I’m saying is there would have been better ways to do it. Chaos. Real chaos. Not just a single attack on a single city. Darkness which isn’t brought upon you, but which is growing on the inside, so you can’t run from it. Then it’s going to spread and swallow every single person.” There was a smile on Loki’s lips and it was scary. It didn’t seem to be addressed at Tony. No, it was something that had slumbered deeply inside of Loki. This expression mirrored his thoughts. Dark, devious.  
Sadly nobody had ever taught Tony to keep his mouth shut in situations like this. “Wow, you’re really made of cotton candy and Hello Kitty. It’s no surprise that you were such a popular child, judging by your delightful character.”

Loki’s smile disappeared and Tony realised mildly shocked that his goose bumps did the same. Goosebumps? Bad, very bad. Well, maybe there was still a reason to feel uneasy. Loki’s eyes fixed him. “You of all people want to mock me because of my inner demons? Your armour can shine as brightly as possible, the things you say may sound playful, but they can’t hide it. Inside of you there is darkness. Deeper than your so called friends could ever imagine. Least of all Thor.”

Hang on a minute! Was this crazy motherfucker actually trying to analyze the mind of Tony Stark? Was Tony really in Asgard or was some reality show playing a prank on him? “I don’t want to be a spoilsport, Rudolph. So, Doctor Freud, enlighten me. What exactly is my problem?”

“Deep inside you know precisely how small and unimportant you are. You clad yourself in your amour of steel to conceal it. Just like your ridiculous try to save allegedly innocent and absolutely worthless souls. Hoping against hope to wash off the blood on your hands. With your sharp tongue and arrogance you just try to distract anybody from noticing it. So they don’t see how much you hate yourself. Rightly so, you’re nothing, Man of Iron. Take the iron away and all that’s left is a pitiful mortal.”

“Right and what are you without your reindeer helmet? A walking Oedipus complex? Pissed off because Daddy never loved you and because of that you developed and unhealthy fixation on your mother, but all you really want is a hug?”

“I am a god!” Loki indeed jumped up from his chair, shouted furiously at him and Tony couldn’t remember seeing anyone this angry. The green eyes widened, the rest of his face was incredibly tensed and the sensors skyrocketed. For a moment Tony was even worried that they wouldn’t be able to take the thrust of energy. Holy shit, if Tony wasn’t able to use this data for something, he could immediately end the whole trip. “Another sore spot?”

Loki’s good mood was now definitely gone and even if Tony loved to play the tough guy with the big mouth - the way Loki narrowed his eyes scared him. Was the force field still working? Hopefully.

“In fact I don’t care about how I will end your puny life…” He cocked his head and his green eyes shone so brightly that the colour created an almost unreal contrast to his pale skin. “… but the way you use your voice to vocalize inanities makes me think of the day when I will put my hand around your throat and squeeze the last bit of life out off you . A thought that fills me with joy.”

That was a promise and Tony for once was tempted to keep his mouth shut. Mostly because his throat was feeling strangely dry. So he had intended to piss Loki off, he had definitely succeeded. He wasn’t getting any more illusions to work with. So to hell with it. „Does this turn you on? Handing out death threads like flowers? You do it so often it must be some kind of kink.”

Against his expectations Loki seemed to be amused once again. At least his mouth formed the tiniest smile. “Fascinating that your species isn’t already sitting in cages and serving somebody else as slaves. There’s nothing else you’re good for.”

This arrogant asshole was really starting to get on Tony’s nerves. „Hey, rock of ages, I know you had a bad childhood and everything, you’re angry and disappointed… you’re every damn kid whose parents got a divorce. You can’t be happy about the way things turned out for you? You turned everybody against you, you hurt your brother deeply, you killed people and now you’re in prison and you won’t get out off here till the end of your long, endless life. Was it worth it?”

“It will have been worth it when I have what I deserve.“

“So what’s that? A nice haircut for a change? Yes, that would be about time.“

“The throne I was born to sit on.”

“And everyday more than a million girls think that they were born to be super models. They end up as waitresses in a seedy bar and the fact that they are pretty only helps them to get better tips. There is no throne for you, I’m never going to be 5.9 feet tall. You should have come to terms with that. Hell, get shitfaced for a weekend, get laid and you’ll get over it. But no, little Loki has to hire an army of aliens and tear down New York. Don’t tell me that this is not a case of serious surcompenstaion.”

Loki stared at him, no Loki examined him as if he could see something in Tony’s face that nobody else had made out yet. Worse, Loki was seeing right through him and Tony only realised that because he felt the strong urge to run away. Could gods do that? Looking inside of somebody? Holy shit, could Loki do that? 

Thor’s brother lowered his head, his eyes running up and down Tony’s body and left him shuddering, something Tony desperately tried to hide. It got really bad when Loki slowly raised his head again and his lips formed a sly and way too content grin. 

Fucking shit.

“Don’t you find any sleep at night, Man of Iron?“ The mocking undertone made it only worse. “Are images hunting you in the darkness, keeping you awake? Because of that you don’t find any sleep at night and by day… it’s lying like a brick on your chest, takes away your ability to breathe. Are you gasping for air like a fish, because you can’t stand it anymore to have seen what has been an everyday occurrence for me?”

Where did he know that from? How could this bastard know these things? No, Tony didn’t have to find that out. What he needed right now was to not have this so called god right in front of him for at least some minutes. Tony turned wordlessly around and walked down the corridor. Loki’s laughter followed him.


	6. Progress

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there,
> 
> It's been a while, but not Tony is back and still trying to figure Loki out and to get him to use some magic :)

Tony supported himself with both hands against the wall and tried to breathe calmly. To do that he first had to get his breathing under control. The question if one could knowingly provoke a panic attack was definitely answered. The worst one Tony had ever had. An incredibly heavy weight seemed to lie on his chest, making it so hard to even get some oxygen into his lungs. No, things couldn’t go this way, definitely not. Tony Stark would never let Loki give him a fucking panic attack. He couldn’t let this guy in his head. Or even better, Tony should get into Loki’s head. There would be enough material to make him go crazy. 

Take a deep breath, slowly. He was fine. He was in Asgard, he had solid ground under his feet and the only thing that could result in problems was nicely locked away. There was no problem, all Tony had to do was breathing.

After a few minutes Tony’s heart rate had slowed down and the breathing got also easier. Everything was fine. Now he had to think of how he could walk back to Loki without looking like a complete moron. Tony had already run away, he couldn’t change that now, but now it was time to go back and to hold his head up high. This freak shouldn’t get the impression that he had scored a point. Only over Tony’s dead body. 

Another deep breath then he pushed himself off the wall and walked straight back to his damned cell. He instantly needed some witty remark or his actions would definitely look like crawling back to Loki. “So guys, did you take advantage of our little pee break?”

Not his best line, but Tony knew how to pronounce something like that to make it at least sound good. It wasn’t like Loki showed any kind of interest anyway. By now he was already lolling again on one of the chairs, his nose buried in a book. Okay, obviously Tony was back on his ignore-list.

“You know, Rudolph, normally people only notice that I have troubles sleeping if they share the same problem.”

Loki’s eyebrows went up a bit and he looked at Tony over the edge of his book. “I have not slept in years, Man of Iron. I do not need sleep, just as little as I need dreams.”

That would at least explain why this guy’s skin was so pale and why he was always in such a bad mood. Perhaps all Loki needed was a hug and some good old sleep. Not getting any sleep could make a man want to conquer the world. Disregarding the fact that this entire story was bullshit. “Don’t try to screw me over, rock of ages, Thor has made a habit out of sleeping on my couch for hours and I’ve heard him snore.”

Loki screwed up his face. “Another quality that makes me incredibly grateful that we don’t share the same blood.”

Since when has ‘sleeping’ become a legit reason to mock somebody? Loki was really trying hard when he wanted to stay pissed at somebody. There were definitely even more psychological issues slumbering under the surface. Sadly Tony was running out of ideas how to use them to his advantage. Loki would get pissed again, but wouldn't show any of his tricks and Tony was none the wiser. Reverse psychology wouldn’t work, Loki was too smart for that, he wasn’t going to fall for it like Thor. Yes, Loki had some brain cells left besides being a total basket case. What if Tony could somehow use that? They didn’t have to become friends or any of that shit, but Tony was willing to do quite a lot to get Loki to do his tricks. Okay, time to bring on some acting.

“You know, not that I’m in any way interested, but since I have the lifelong pleasure of being an only child, I still ask myself if siblings are indeed the worst thing that could happen to a person. Don’t you have at least… destroyed some very precious vase and hid the shards together when you were kids?”

Looking at Loki and Thor Tony couldn’t really imagine that they have ever been kids, but he had to start somewhere if he wanted to act like a pal. Just like expected his question confused Loki. “With your useless question your are trying to distract me from what, mortal?”

Damn, it wasn’t easy to fool somebody who wasn’t stupid. Which told Tony that he was hanging out way too often with people who weren’t smart. “I just don’t believe that you’ve always hated Thor. Sure, he doesn’t get it when I reference Star Wars and that really makes me want to smack his head, but judging by the way he stands up for you… there must have been a time when you weren’t at each other’s throats.”

Loki tilted his head and his eyes flashed dangerously. Ohoh, Tony could see the wheels turning in his head. Either he was trying to figure out how to kill Tony or, more likely, he was thinking about Thor and himself. “Thor’s barely existing intelligence has never allowed him to see me like I am, he doesn’t even see himself. He’s chasing after dreams of which he doesn’t even know that they are dreams. He also doesn’t understand his own doings and doesn’t know any other language than the one of his hammer. Asgard is going to have an oaf as their king.”

Well, Tony just dug up some gold. If he made it to be a little bit sympathetic, then this could turn out quite nicely. Wouldn’t hurt right now to have the slightest idea how to be sympathetic. “I guess this how things work in a primogeniture. The first one takes it all. Wouldn’t they have gotten you some nice title? Duke of Cambridge or something?”

Fascinated Tony watched how Loki’s fingers played with a page of the book. Evidently Tony had caught his attention. Good. „Asgard isn’t a primogeniture. The one who is considered worthy is going to be king. What does that say about the glorious realm of Asgard?”

“Who is considered worthy? I guess you don’t have a free casting on the street.”

“Who is considered worthy within the royal family. Two sons, both born to be kings.”

Yep, Tony had already expected something like that. The first born had always some advantages. Primogeniture or not. Though he hated admitting it and the mere thought made him sick, but maybe they should have given the possibility of Loki as their king a little more thought. Apart from the psychosis and the tendencies to mass murder people… He was intelligent and Tony was sure that Loki didn’t have any illusions about the daily business of ruling. That it needed more than brute strength. 

Maybe that was the problem, Loki had felt cheated and perhaps rightly so and that had made him go crazy. Sure, you still must have had a few problems before that if you decided to conquer a planet, because they wouldn’t give you the crown. On the other hand, what were people willing to do if they felt like they had been wronged their entire life? Even Thor hadn’t hesitated to spill the beans about Loki being adopted.

Adopted, disadvantaged, the nerdy kid in a family full of jocks… didn’t live up to the expectations, but was absolutely brilliant in other fields… Wait a second, what was Tony thinking right now? The whole sympathetic bullshit worked way too well. “Maybe it has something to do with you not being able to be happy for Thor. You can’t handle not being the worthy one.”

„Stark, am I right if I assume that you are considered a rather intelligent example of the human species?“

Tony had no idea if he should count that as a compliment or an insult. Probably the latter. “Hey, I am a god damned genius. You Asgardian haven’t heard of that yet?“

Now Loki was indeed looking up and grinned at him. “I am a god.”

Another note for Tony’s mental notebook – way too self-confident. „You see that’s the reason why nobody wants to play with you. Nobody likes a show-off.” Hearing something like that coming from Tony... weird.

Loki put the book away, bingo. „Oh yes, just the design of your amour shows how highly you think of modesty. If you are superior to others, then why shouldn’t they know about it? Why walk, if you can fly? Why not being worshiped if you are a god? Why building a tower that looms over a whole city and writing your on name on it, so every creature can see no matter how little it might be?” Now he was leaning forward, fixing Tony with his eyes and judging by his smirk he was really having fun now. “I can't take lectures about humbleness seriously, if they are coming from a person who would never hide their light under a bushel. Why should you? If you are able to put yourself above others, then do it. And would it be a crime if they didn’t adore you for it?”

Now Tony really had to be careful, he was approaching dangerous territory. ‘Loki might have a point here’ territory. 

“So if I was born to be a king, then it s my right to take the throne and denying me it would be a crime.”

Wow, that guy really liked to hear himself talk, but Tony wasn’t any different. “And what about Thor? Blood related or not. Wasn’t he also born to be a king?“

Torture was the only way to make Tony admit that he was actually curious to hear Loki’s answer. “Thor… Thor is born to be a warrior. Nothing else suits him, he’s missing the necessary brain cells. He can wield his hammer and win battles and wars. Which he probably caused himself because of his stupidity.”

Tony could see that, as nice as Thor was most of the time, he was fan of hitting first – questions later. “Rudolph, you wanted to invade my planet with an alien army.”

The grin on Loki’s face was reason enough to send him to a lunatic asylum. “In this case it was my intention to conquer. Thor could wage a war, but before the ink on the treaty of piece would have dried, he would have doomed all of Asgard. As if he could get through a single official hearing. Or conduct a tax reform…” Loki chuckled about the last part and that could really scare the crap out of anyone,

“Wait a second? You guys have to pay taxes? In Asgard? Give me a break. Does that mean you can’t run anywhere? The fiscal authorities are going to catch up with you in another universe? That’s scary. What do you need taxes for? No, don’t tell me, I don’t want to know. But I will admit one thing, I can’t really imagine Thor negotiating with an union about minimum wages. That doesn’t mean I can see you doing that. You would be standing there, telling people to kneel.”

“I wouldn’t have to. In the presence of Asgard’s king you’re only allowed to stand upright if he gave his permission. Although that might be a necessity during negotiations, both parties have to be able to look each other in the eye. If the petitioner feels inferior from the very first moment, he’ll try to affront the king and that would only unnecessarily complicate things.”

Tony fought down a smile. Loki said a few things that were pretty reasonable. “Good, let’s set up the theory that everything is like you said it is… and they really fucked you over… Wouldn’t there have been another way to get what’s supposed to be yours? A way with less… psychotic behaviour, killing people, leading aliens who cause a lot of property damages? A way which would have… gained you something else not just getting your ass kicked?”

“Why do you think that I gained nothing?” The way Loki asked that question almost let Tony believe that he was being serious. “Because you’re going to spend the rest of your life in prison. Which is a fucking long time considering your life expectation.”

The corners of Loki’s mouth went up a little bit. Slowly Tony got the impression that he was really smiling and not being… pissed off. Of course, it was still that mischievous, disturbing kind of smile, but it was progress. “Did you never consider the possibility that this might be part of my plan? This ridiculous cell can’t hold me forever. Could it be that I’m exactly where I want to be? That you all did me a huge favour by imprisoning me here?”

Tony had to swallow and his chest suddenly got strangely tight, making it harder to breathe. Was that the truth? That would explain why this freak was still sitting here, being as smug as during the invasion. It had to be a show, they thoroughly kicked his ass and now he was in jail. Just because his ego was too big to handle defeat he was pretending now that everything was part of a bigger plan. Sure. Otherwise Tony would be having another panic attack. Right fucking now. “Nice. I almost believed you for a second.”

If Loki was bothered by being exposed, he didn’t let it show. He continued to grin, sat down on the arm rest of his chair and just looked at Tony. Despite his evidently arrogant behaviour Tony slowly realised that Loki was less annoyed by his presence. Why the hell not? Tony was a cool guy and this god here was definitely bored to death. Good, after all Tony wanted that Loki to get comfortable. “Now seriously… what are you reading? I can’t imagine what kind of literature you guys have here. Not that I’m a big reader myself, I’m more of a fan of pictures. I don’t think you guys have cable? Thought so. What are you reading? It’d better be good.“

This time there were no smart lines or allusions, but Loki still raised an eyebrow. “Works that tell Asgard’s history. Runes about the social systems of Jotunheim and Útgarðar. Records of the creation of weapons for the royal guardians and their composition and how to forge them. The travel report of an Asgardian who visited Midgard about… 200 years ago.”

Maybe Loki was less a nerd and more of a geek. His teachers must have loved him. “Do you try to tell me that some guy in a Viking’s outfit took part in the French Revolution?”

Loki’s eyebrows went up again in confusion and Tony sighed. “Does this mean that some guy from Asgard went on holiday to earth during the times of enlightenment? Well, if he went to Australia he probably didn’t notice any of that.”

“His records mention a place called Firenze.”

“Italy, of course. Going to the beach, eating pizza… So what does he write about our good old friends the Italians? If he hasn’t mentioned spaghetti you can burn this stupid book.”

His question still seemed to confuse Loki, he was frowning. Yet not the ‘What the hell is that stupid mortal talking about?’ kind of way. Rather irritated and curious. “He describes buildings, arts, literature… Nothing that can be compared to Asgardian accomplishments. It’s not my first choice when it comes to literature, but it’s still more stimulating than any conversation I’ve ever had with Thor.”

If that wasn’t the greatest compliment Loki was capable of making. “Cool, when you have finished it can I borrow it? It’s probably a once in a lifetime chance to read about earth from an alien perspective. Apart from your – All mortals are unworthy beings of no intellect – attitude. That’s really getting old.”

Grinning Loki crossed his arms in front of his chest and now Tony was definitely considered entertaining. “Our previous conversation hasn’t given me a reason to think that you would be able to understand complex interrelations.”

“Hey, we seem to have a conversation interesting enough for you to put your book away and don’t forget that I’m a genius. For me the stupid travel report of an Asgardian is nothing more than a bedtime story to read to a child.”

“Even if you could understand it you wouldn’t be able to decipher the runes.”

So what? Tony could learn anything if he wanted to. “You wouldn’t believe what a fast learner I am.”

“You excessive overestimation of your own capabilities is starting to bore me.”

They had started to really get along. The best friendships between men started with psychoanalysis and insults and now Loki had to start bitching around again. “Okay, Rudolph, we have a deal, I learn to read your fucking runes and you show me a little bit of Hokus Pokus.”

Clear case of his tongue being faster than his brain, but Loki wouldn’t agree to this any-

“Agreed. Until tomorrow, Man of Iron.”

Oh shit. “Tomorrow? Are you crazy? I can’t learn…“

That fucking smirk. “Just as expected.”

Okay, that was enough, Tony would take great pleasure in wiping that fucking grin off that fucking face. So thoroughly that it would never show up again. “Fine! I’ll know your stupid runes better than you do and you will be a good boy and apologize to me. See ya!”


	7. Fooled

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everybody,
> 
> It's been a while, but now we're finally going to find out if Tony made it to learn the runic alphabet. Loki is in for a surprise :)

Tony could get used to travelling via Bifröst, this way was even faster than flying with his suit and that was damn impressive. Now Tony was back home in his workshop and working on his new project – kicking Loki’s arrogant, adopted ass. Thor had given him three books from the Asgardian library and now Tony had to prove that his drinking habit hadn’t yet destroyed his brain cells responsible for the speech centre of his brain.

“Jarvis, what can you tell me about this kind of runes?”

“Sir, this is the oldest known form of the runic alphabet. Are you interested in the historic data or should I focus on their linguistic application?”

As if Tony had the time to bother with details. “No history lesson. Show me all the runes of the alphabet. Along with their Latin equivalent and meaning.”

The hologram formed a tabloid and Jarvis played the role of Tony’s tutor. “The alphabet consists of 16 runes, sir.”

„Good… while I’m taking a look at that, you’ll be scanning the three books Thor gave me. Then I want you to search for translations and put the 1000 most common words and word combinations on the screen. I don’t have to be perfect. We can ignore conjugation and declination for now, we’ll focus on syntax and vocabulary.”

Tony had thought about cheating, but he was going to face an expert who was also the fucking god of lies. Cheating wouldn’t work, so Tony had to do a quick course in Old Norse and runes. Piece of cake.

The runes themselves weren’t much of a problem, there weren’t many of them and Tony memorized them fairly quickly. Reading whole text turned out to be way more difficult, because Old Norse didn’t resemble any language known to Tony. There was no other way than to do this as one great memory exercise. Connecting pictures with words, nothing more.

During five hours Tony did nothing else than to imprint Jarvis’ tabloids on his mind, to work out a code how he would be able to recall them anytime he wanted. It was like programming. Also it turned out to be quite helpful that those books were written in a rather figurative language.

After half a dozen cups of coffee Tony made it to read his first paragraph. He didn’t understand the meaning of every single sign, but he could gather enough from the context. Jarvis insisted on his interpretation being very loose and creative, but who was he to talk? Artificial intelligence with access to all the knowledge in the world.

It was a long night and an even longer noon, yet Tony was quite content. Probably he wouldn’t be good enough to quote Shakespeare, but good enough to teach Loki a lesson. Tony continued, practising until he fell asleep on his desk and dreamed of runes. Jarvis did him the favour of waking him up on time, so he could still take a shower before his taxi to Asgard showed up. Slowly he was becoming a real tourist.

“Do you really think that you can convince Loki to cooperate with you? Originally you didn’t plan to spend a whole day here and until now Loki only took advantage of this time to mock us." Thor once again played Tony’s personal escort to the dungeons.

“Your brother wants to be entertained. He’s bored, everything has to be a game. First I didn’t want to take part in that, but it seems to be the only way to get to him. Moreover he also can be quite entertaining when he forgets being a psychopath for a minute.” Tony was optimistic, well prepared and ready to give Loki a taste of his own medicine. “By the way I think it’d be better if I’ll see him alone today. Nothing personal, but your presence doesn’t make him very happy, but uncooperative.”

Thor’s regretful sigh showed that he was of the same opinion although it didn’t please him. “I wish it would be different. The Allfather is not happy about the prolongation of your research.”

“It takes as much time as needed. Now keep your fingers crossed, I’ll beard the lion in its den. Thanks for the books, I’ll use them to kick your brother’s ass.” Tony would have liked to turn around to see Thor’s dumbfounded look, but this way his exit looked way cooler. The same guards as yesterday were standing in front of the cell. At least Tony thought so, they could all be clones, total look-alikes. “Morning, guys, what’s up? Loki isn’t getting on your nerves? Look at that, I’m interrupting art class.”

Loki was sitting on the floor of his cell, a large sketch block in his hands, apparently drawing. If he had made up a weekly schedule? One day reading, another day drawing? If knew at all what day it was. For Loki today and yesterday were both ‘I gotta ignore Tony’ day of the week. “Loki! Good morning, Uncle Tony is here!”

As always Loki didn’t bother to look up. “Again not a pleasure to see you, Stark.”

“Likewise. You look just as bad as yesterday. Have you already forgotten our little deal? I read you a little story and you show me something in return. Come on, I brought reading material.” Tony waved with the book in his hand and Loki must have observed him out of the corner of an eye.

“You do think me very naïve. This book which you have most certainly learned by heart? No, if you want to prove to me that you are capable of reading the runes, it will be me who chooses the book.”

Since Tony didn’t intent to cheat he didn’t care that much. In the end Loki would be all the more impressed. With a big grin on his lips Tony crossed his arms in front of his chest. “Okay. I’ll gladly read a bedtime story to you.”

Loki must have had a bad night, there was no other explanation why he didn’t make another stupid comment. Instead he got up, walked over to his pile of books, picked one up and returned to the force field. A depreciatory look towards Tony, of course, he couldn’t do without one. “So show me what you think you have learned. Once you have failed…”

“If I fail.”

“Once you have failed you will release me from the pain of your annoying presence.”

“Fine and as soon as I have succeeded you will be a little bit more cooperative. Come on, show me what’s up.” Demandingly Tony pointed at the book and Loki actually opened it and held it high enough so Tony could easily make out the runes.

“Here.” Loki even showed him the paragraph he wanted to hear.

Not much longer than a single line, but Tony already felt victorious, because he recognized the first rune. It seemed to be a simple combination although not all the combinations were known to Tony. He tried to recall similar signs from his memory what definitely would have been easier if Loki hadn’t been staring him down with this dispraising look on his face.

“Wealth is… the reason… the reason for agreement… No, discord among families. Wealth is the reason for discord among families.” Tony would have loved to show with an obscene gesture just how cool he was for reading out this line, but Loki’s reaction was distracting him.

Green, slightly narrowed eyes and a frown on his forehead. In contrast to his usual behaviour Tony couldn’t quite grasp the meaning of this gaze. Not mocking, not shocked. Tony had no idea what to make of it. Without a word Loki indicated him to continue, but pointed at another paragraph. Good, so Tony would show him another proof of how awesome he was. “Sun… is warm… bright… Ehm… light! Of course… Sun is the light of the Earth.”

He would have continued, but suddenly Loki abruptly closed the book. “Wealth is a source of discord among kinsmen. Sun is the light of the world. Your words weren’t the same.”

That simply had to be joke! Was that idiot with the ridiculous haircut insane? This was the definition of nitpicking…

“Anyhow… It can’t be denied that you posses at least some knowledge of the runic alphabet. Rather unusual for a mortal. Yesterday you weren’t capable of reading a single line, your arrogance wouldn’t have allowed you to wait a whole day to finally show off. This means that you indeed have gained this ability during the course of one night. Impressive.”

His voice sounded absolutely monotone, Loki could easily have been reading the instructions of a water boiler. His lips formed a thin line. Tony had managed to make Loki feel impressed. Could this become even more awesome? “Wow, Loki, you’ll make me blush if you continue to flatter me like this. Now you gotta stop calling me stupid, huh?”

“Even if you seem to surpass the average intellectual abilities that could be expected from a mortal, your intellect is still insanely underdeveloped in comparison to mine.”

“Slow down there, you should be very careful using the word insane. Glasshouse? Throwing stones? Moreover you just said that I impressed you. I won the bet. You gotta respect our deal. Come on, if I can learn the runic alphabet in one night, you can show me a trick.“

Loki’s face didn’t give anything away and Tony was pretty sure that he would screw him over. God of lies and everything. To his surprise Loki uttered a sigh and shrugged. “We indeed had a deal.”

Finally! Tony would get his data and he could already smell his Nobel Prize. How far did he get with his speech? He was stuck at the point where he told those other losers that they never stood a chance and… What the…

“What are you doing?!”

Again with a big, creepy grin on his face Loki held out his hand and a small, green flame danced on his open palm. Pretty and a nice trick for parties. “I’m fulfilling my part of our deal.”

“Is this supposed to be a joke? I want to see a clone or a hologram. You gotta respect our deal!”

“I respect it perfectly. You wanted Hokus Pokus, not an illusion. Doesn’t this match your idea of Hokus Pokus?”

Now Tony found it impossible to close his mouth. That couldn’t be true! How could he be so stupid? No way to complain about this damned loophole, he had made it pretty easy for Loki to screw him over. Because of that he couldn’t even be mad, he wouldn’t have done it any differently. “Okay, touché. Nicely done. My bad… New deal.“

Quickly Loki closed his fingers to a fist and the green flames disappeared. “No, if we shall have another deal, it’s going to be who fixes the rules.”

Now that was going to be fun. If Tony wasn’t such an idiot, he’d be already outta here. Instead he was losing his mind, because he was actually tempted to give in. Loki was pretty much anything but uninteresting. Tony was curious and insane, a very bad combination. “Okay, let’s hear what you have in mind, Rudolph.”

Loki didn’t beat around the bush. „I ask you questions, as many as I want and when you have answered them, I will show you the illusion you desire so much.“

Cool, Tony expected something entirely different. Like blowing up a wall of the palast, getting him out of the dungeon, killing a guard or Thor. Doing a handstand wearing nothing but his underwear. Something like that. “Forget it. You would just ask me questions for all eternity and nothing else. We need a limit.”

“Agreed. 10.“

„3.“

„7.“

„5.“

„An acceptable compromise would be 6 questions.“

Tony could live with that, so he nodded. “Fine, but there is a time limit, I don’t want you to take 100 years to ask a question. Today, you ask them all today. If you haven’t done that by the time I’m going home, the deal is lapsed.”

“Your conditions are acceptable. It should be taken for granted that you have to answer my questions truthfully. I will look through every lie instantly.”

“Okay, okay, I got it. We have a deal. Shoot.“

That omnipresent grin just grew bigger. “That’s all? You don’t want to limit the things I may ask about? Not scared that I might find out a secret?”

No, not in the very least. „About me you can ask anything you want. I’m not embarrassed by anything and I don’t have many secrets anyway. Concerning S.H.I.E.L.D… you can have all the information and data you want. You’re sitting in a cage for the rest of your life, what would you do with them? Come on, Hannibal Lecter, illusions against information.” Tony sat down on the floor because he was pretty sure this would be a long conversation. “Hey, guys! Can somebody bring me a cushion or a chair? Why does he have several chairs in there? It’s no like he has any visitors.”

The question turned out to be useless, because Loki demonstrated what he needed several chairs for. He sat down on one of them and put his stretched out legs on another one. His hands lay folded in his lap, he looked strangely calm. “Man of Iron, how do you feel about your brothers in arms despising you?”

How could the very first question leave Tony utterly speechless? He always had something to say, it didn’t have to be smart or to even make sense. With one single question Loki had left his head empty. What the hell? No question about Earth’s defenses, weaknesses of the Avengers, something like that? “What are you talking about, Rudolph?”

“I don’t think you’re allowed to avoid answering me by asking another question yourself.”

“I would answer your question if I knew what the fuck you are talking about!”

Loki laughed, but it didn’t sound happy in the least bit. “You claim yourself to posses such a sharp intellect. Shouldn’t it be obvious? The two bounty hunters… cold, calculating. They have so much blood on their hands, they are bound to the organisation. Not due to loyalty or honor, but merely because they would be killed if they didn’t play along. They depend on it, they don’t like risks. You are a risk. You don’t act according to plan, you dismiss strategy and battle plans, acting on instinct and sometimes only to get attention and admiration. They don’t trust you, they consider you a danger. Just like the organisation, which has secret plans to destroy you, should you turn out to be a real threat.”

Tony remained silent. If he had opened his mouth, all that would have come out, would have been questions about how Loki could know all of this. Did he read all that in Clint’s mind? And why was he suddenly feeling sick to his stomach.

In the meantime Loki continued, completely unbothered by Tony’s distress. “The beast… he might be fond of you, but he also is tied to the organisation if he likes it or not… despite them having a plan to take him out at any moment. He fears your carefree character, but wouldn’t raise his hand against you. Should the organisation decide to get rid of you, he wouldn’t stand in their way. Perhaps to keep his own life save and because he is very well aware of your dangerous nature.”

“Hey, Bruce would…”

“And the biggest admirer of your person, the soldier.” Loki kept talking, the grin glued to his face. “So virtuous, modest, righteous and patriotic. In fact he shouldn’t even be able to detest you, because such negative feelings can’t be accepted from the pure and good person he considers himself. But he does detest you. Because you aren’t a puppet, unlike him. His obient nature doesn’t allow him to question any orders he’s given. You don’t give a damn about orders, you act selfishly. Dangerous, imprudent, not able to restrain yourself. You’re no soldier. You’re not somebody who fights for an ideal, who considers the fight as a nasty necessity. No, the fight pleases you. You like the adrenaline, the recognition and sometimes you would even risk the victory to learn more about your enemy or to see what he can do. Because it fascinates you. Because you are no hero. You haven’t been trained, you haven’t sworn an oath, you aren’t bound to anyone but to yourself. To him you’re dangerous. About Thor… he will do whatever the majority wants him to do. So there is a possibility that they might all turn against you. I may be the first person to say it out loudly, but you have already known that all along. Now I want to hear your opinion on this matter, Man of Iron.”

Of course Loki explained all of that with an immense self-satisfaction and a devious smile on his lips which was clearly intended to provoke Tony. However he couldn’t conceal some honest curiosity. His eyes were interested, clearly. An uneasy feeling crept up the back of Tony’s neck when he realised that Loki wasn’t trying to make mischief or to unsettle him. Loki voiced his own thoughts, not ideas he wanted to plant in Tony’s mind.

As if that was necessary, Tony was a bon vivant and reckless, but that didn’t mean that he didn’t notice what was happening around him. It wasn’t news to him that he was a thorn in S.H.I.E.L.D’s side. On the other hand Loki was right. Having someone saying something straight into your face was an entirely different thing than some thoughts you may have once in a while. Perhaps it wasn’t smart to tell Loki about his real views, but Tony wouldn’t suddenly start to be a careful person.

“Everything you’re saying has to do with S.H.I.E.L.D and I pretty much pissed off every single guy working there and told them that they’re doing a shitty job. Because it’s the truth. If they ever want to get rid of me? Probably. Not at the moment, because they need me, I can’t be sure that this is never going to change. Moreover Jarvis really found a lot of files about me on their servers. They don’t trust me, I don't trust them. Believe me, I don’t have any illusions about loyalty. I have all the ressources and influence you can imagine and I am the only one who can produce the one thing they want. I am secure, because I wouldn’t bother taking it all away from them, not working with them anymore. About the Avengers… I am not a rat filled with hatred… like you. I don’t stab someone in the back because they someday might do the same thing to me.”

Loki pursed his lips and crossed his arms in front of his chest. “You’re not as gifted as me with words, Man of Iron. No matter how you put it, I only hear you saying that you don’t trust them. A wise attitude.”


	8. Mythical creatures & mechanical devices

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everybody,
> 
> Loki and Tony continue their little game and they both learn a lot of new things... about each other

Tony gave Loki the silent treatment. Turning tables. No, he had to think and he didn’t need Loki unsettling him with some stupid remark. Loki thought he knew so much. Even worse, he was right about most things. When it came down to S.H.I.E.L.D, Tony didn’t have any illusions. He was definitely at the bottom of Fury’s list of his favourite Avengers. Even beneath the Hulk. S.H.I.E.L.D needed him more than he needed them and they hated that. Especially since they didn’t actually need _Tony_.

They needed the Hulk’s strength. They needed the… Natasha’s and Clint’s special set of skills. Thor’s hammer, which could only be held by him. Steve’s superhuman body, the only one on this planet, because he had volunteered to have them experimenting on him. What did Tony have? Tony had resources, Tony had brains and above all he had the suit. He was the only one who knew how to build them and besides that he had a lot of other interesting ideas. Then again, S.H.I.E.L.D would be very willing to live without this input if they could have the suit. Preferably a whole army of them.

They didn’t have the resources to do so, they also lacked the necessary intelligence, but Tony wasn’t so naïve to believe that they weren’t working on it. And S.H.I.E.L.D hopefully wasn’t so stupid to believe that he wasn’t preparing for that. He was.

“I will accept your answer. My next question…”

Tony raised his hand to stop Loki from voicing whatever he wanted to say. “Shut up! You want to piss me off and you made it! I’m pissed off. You may ask another question when I say you’re allowed to.”

Loki was unimpressed and shrugged. “I don’t have problems with being silent. It seems a little odd though, because you came to me and this little question and answer game exists to get you what you want.”

“Right now I don’t want to hear your voice, you need to be punished, so entertain me. I want to read one of the books. Hold it for me.”

Wonderful idea, especially because Loki’s eyebrows now met his hairline. “Do I look like a piece of furniture to you?”

“No, but you wanted me to learn the runes. I did learn them and now I want to read that dumb traveller’s report. Put the damn book there and enchant it, so it’ll turn the pages itself. Come on!” Tony made an effort look actually sinister and strict and Loki pursed his lips. Somehow he looked pensive and Tony guessed that now they were going to keep silent for the rest of the next hour. Or not, because one of the books from the pile was suddenly developing a life on its own. If Tony hadn’t already seen some real fucked-up shit in his life, it would probably have made him a little bit nervous to see a book floating towards the force field, stopping right in front of him. In mid-air.

“Okay, I’ll admit – this is freaking cool.”

Loki didn’t pay attention to him anymore, the sketch block was back in his hands and he continued to draw. Tony shrugged and looked at the book in front of him. Runes over runes, but Tony was now a badass concerning runes, shouldn’t be a problem. It still took him quite a while to figure out the first page, but he was content. Time to turn the page. “Ehm… Loki?”

Not the slightest reaction, but the book turned the page indeed on its own. Cool. Tony continued to read, but it turned out that reading a coherent text was harder to read than a single sentence. Knowing shit about conjugation and declination wouldn’t be to his disadvantage right now. Or a text that wasn’t quite so figurative. Three pages later Tony was stuck. He didn’t get the phrase and some things that were mentioned before already seemed unclear. It was so damn frustrating to be confronted with one’s limits even if you were a genius. Tony let out a loud sigh that he wouldn’t have noticed himself if Loki hadn’t started to chuckle. “You’re having troubles sooner than I expected, Man of Iron.”  
  
”Shut up, how many languages do you speak?”

“Thirty-five and you have never heard of a single one of them.”

“Exactly, that doesn’t make it very impressive. Be quite, I have to concentrate.”

Loki left him alone for a couple of minutes, until Tony uttered his next sigh. “Your sighing violates my concentration. You stop doing that or you show me the rune that troubles you, so I can explain to you what you will never be able to understand on your own.”

Offering to help him and sounding like an asshole at the same time. Well, it was Loki, so it was still progress. The real miracle was the fact that Loki really got up and walked over to him. Confused, but determined to not mess this up, Tony showed him the rune and Loki lifted the book. His eyes were already back to show how bored he was. Maybe he had hoped Tony was stuck at a more interesting passage.

“I guess the problem is due to the very different way of expression you tend to use on Midgard. A cragged burden may sound nice, but it’s nothing more than a big rock. A man who protectively raises his arm is a soldier.”

“Damn, I already hated that kind of thing when I was still in university. Why can’t you just say soldier when talking about a soldier? Can’t you tell me a page where he’s writing about something interesting?”

Instead of doing exactly that Loki cocked his head. “Wouldn’t it be easier to just ask me since I have already read this book?”

Generally yes, but it wasn’t that simple. “Yes, if you weren’t the god of lies and weren’t telling me a bunch of bullshit. Moreover I like to take a look at things myself so I don’t have to rely on others.”

If Loki lost his shit now, Tony wouldn’t care. He was indeed surprised to see a small grin on Loki’s face. “A smart attitude, Man of Iron.”

Wow, now they were of the same opinion once again. Weird. Anyway Loki walked back to his sketch block and Tony continued to try for a good hour to read that stupid book. He didn’t get much of it, the context was pretty hard to grasp when everything was written in runes that Tony had only learned last night. Why should he only concentrate on the book if he could also observe Loki? That wasn’t very exciting, because all Loki did was drawing. Tony would like to know what he was drawing. Apart from that just looking at Loki wasn’t uninteresting either.

Even when he wasn’t wearing some weird armour, his outfit was still a little bit strange. Who would be hanging out lazily on a chair in tight leather pants? Not everybody. The rest of his outfit reminded Tony more of a tunic than of a shirt. Naturally green with a v-cut. Loose fitting… especially in contrast to the leather pants… and it still showed off how thin Loki was. When was he eating anyway? Or how did they bring him food? Loki said that he hadn’t slept in years. Could be bullshit, but if fit was true, maybe he also hadn’t eaten in years. No sleep, no food? What was there left to live for?  
Reading and drawing? Loki had to serve a life sentence, he would be sitting in this cage for… the next 4000 years. Tony would instantly crack and go insane. Well, Loki wasn’t a normal guy, but considering the circumstances… „You were serious, weren’t you?“

„Be more specific, Stark.“

Tony cleared his throat, but that also didn’t make Loki look at him. “When you said that you won’t stay here forever… I mean… that this cell won’t be able to hold you forever. You were serious.”

Two green eyes looked over the edge of the book and his mouth formed a sneering smile. “Of course. Why would I say such a thing if I wasn’t serious?

“No idea. You tell me, god of lies.”

Loki remained quiet, smiled and continued drawing. Tony would give one of his suits to see was he was doing there. “You already have a plan? How to get out of here?”

“Several.”

Could this scumbag finally stop to amaze Tony? Why was he even responding? Tony was an Avenger, he was Thor’s friend. His history with Loki consisted of attempted murder and threats. He wasn’t the kind of guy Loki should tell his plans to escape. Or Loki was just insane and way too sure of himself. As long as Loki continued to talk, Tony would continue to ask, that was for sure. “How many of them are fleshed out?”

“Two.”

Tony felt goosebumps creeping up his arms, but not the panic he was supposed to feel. “Should I be worried?”

“Indeed, you should be. Because of a lot of things, but not because of me. Not at the moment. Not as long as we still have a deal. This would be a good time to mention that I don’t want to wait any longer with posing my next question.”

Well, he kind of asked nicely and the sooner question time was over the better. Moreover Loki wasn’t able to annoy him more than he already did with his first question. Although… Loki wasn’t a person one should underestimate. “Fine, go ahead. But ask something interesting. What kind of porn I like or my shoe size.“

Once again Loki proved that he didn’t understand Tony’s humour in the least bit. Instead of laughing he turned his sketch block with an elegant gesture of his hand. Now Tony could clearly see what he had been drawing and now he wished that he hadn’t. Not because of the quality of the drawing, not at all. Loki was a damned Albrecht Dürer, perfect details, precise like a photograph and he didn’t even have a model. The motive however caused Tony’s mouth to run dry and his hand started to tremble. He quickly closed them to fists and forced himself to not show how shocked he was. Loki shouldn’t see what kind of impact his drawing had.

“What purpose did you create this instrument for?”

Tony didn’t respond, but kept starting at the drawing of the arc reactor. How was that even possible? “How… you never saw it… so?”

His voice was trembling. Fuck

Loki explained to him, sounding less like a douchbag than Tony had expected. “I did. Only in the form of a glowing light underneath your clothes. The outlines and size were easy to tell just like the form, I only had to take a few liberties. This is the metallic device you carry in your chest. I want to know for what reason you placed it there.”

Fucking shit. If this guy could do something, it was finding sore spots. Second question, second strike. What was he supposed to do now? To tell Loki where he could shove that damned question? Then Tony would probably have to do the same with the data he hoped to gain. Were they worth it to give Loki information he could use to easily kill him? Probably he was already having an idea or he wouldn’t ask this question? Tony’s silence would explain all what was still missing. Damn.

“It’s an energy source for my suit.”

Half the truth, but that had to suffice. Tony hoped so while Loki was looking at his own drawing. “It wouldn’t be necessary to make said energy source a part of your body. Don’t try to fool me, Man of Iron, you’re incapable of doing that.”

Damn again, Tony should have known. He didn’t want to give his secret away, to Loki. That would be the most irresponsible thing to do. They had a deal but Tony still had the possibility to just run off. “His function is to keep me alive. That’s the reason I created it for. If you think that I’ll tell you more about it, then good luck with that. We’re done with this question. Now I suddenly don’t want to talk to you anymore. Again.”

Loki didn’t care. „You were the one who insisted on asking all the questions today. Therefore I don’t understand why you would want to waste time.”

“Hey, I am Tony Stark, not everything I do has to make sense. Now… draw yourself a few friends or do anything, just leave me alone. Your questions suck…” Sullen Tony continued to read or at least he pretended. He had to collect his thoughts and try to get a little bit more annoyed so his fascination with Loki had no chance to surge again. Was all of this apprehension? Or how was Loki doing this? How could he isolate his sore spot so easily and… what was going to be next? Tony’s minor problem with alcohol, his daddy issues or his nightmares? Loki already did know about the latter. Did he saw all that in Tony’s expression? Did he read it in Clint’s thoughts? No, not even Clint knew all that. It was quite possible that Tony would soon create some device to read other people’s thoughts. Or a time machine, so he could kick the ass of his younger self. Great idea to let Loki ask you six question, past-Tony. Four left to go.

Finally Loki had actually listened and was drawing, not bothering Tony. This way he couldn’t see what his new motive was that was probably better for Tony’s mental health.

“What are you drawing now?”

God, someday Tony had to buy a lock to keep his damned mouth shut. Was it even possible that his tongue and his brain weren’t connected? At all?

“ Níðhöggr.“

A lot of consonants, Tony need to buy a vocal. “Right, cool. What’s that? An Asgardian coffee brand?“

„Níðhöggr is a dragon who gnaws at the roots of the world tree and feeds from the dead.”

“You Asgardians have some really sick fantasies.”

Loki shot him a dark glance before he was concentrating again on the lines which he brought to paper. “If you want to allude to Níðhöggr being a work of fantasy, then I have to disappoint you. He has existed as longs as the Nine Worlds.”

„Okay, that’s creeping me out and I have no problem with hammer wielding aliens or gods… but dragons? You are shitting me. There are actual dragons?” Tony forgot all about being annoyed, he was busy turning back into a 12 year old boy and he wanted to hear more, more stories about dragons. Or even better – seeing a dragon or having him as a pet. Or to ride him through the air and to burn down Fury’s house.

There was a hint of frustration in Loki’s voice. “Yes, there are dragons. Of course not in all the nine worlds, but they exist. In different colours and sizes…”

Well… that was beyond cool. Dragons. Real dragons with fire. If this wasn’t the craziest thing Tony had heard in ages. Way cooler than the holograms. If dragons did exist, then Loki for sure had other fascinating stuff to tell. “What about dwarfs?”

“What about them?”

“They exist too!?”

Obviously thought that this question wasn’t even worth a condescending glare. “If giants exist, why shouldn’t dwarfs?”

With every syllable it became better. It was like freaking Lord of the Rings and Tony would instantly ask Thor if they could go on a fieldtrip. “Giants?! Cool.”

For a moment Loki paused and he frowned. “Thor didn’t…”

“Thor didn’t do what?”

Loki just shook his head. “Unimportant.”

Never mind, Tony had other questions. „So since we’ve already covered giants and dwarfs… what about elves, goblins, gnomes…?”

“Midgard isn’t considered one of the dullest and simplest worlds without a reason… Yes, Man of Iron, all these creatures do exist. Not in Asgard, but in other worlds. They aren’t considered exotic or special, because there are millions of them. Just as many as there are mortals.” Loki caught his eyes for a moment before his attention was back on his drawing.

Usually Tony was pretty content with being a human, but now he got the impression that he was missing out on a lot of stuff. Dragons, dwarfs and God knows what. “You can’t stop there. You’ve been around a lot, tell me some stories. Where are the dwarfs hanging out? Do they live in mines? Caves? Do they have to pay taxes like you?”

“I’m not interested in talking to you, Stark.”

“Come on, I answered your questions.”

“You will get an illusion in return, no stories.”

What a spoilsport. “Come on, Loki! Be cool… for once in your life! You must have seen a lot of cool stuff. I’m curious. All I see on Earth is Thor trying to use the microwave. I don’t get more supernatural stuff. So, how does a dwarf look? And how many of them do I need to change a light bulb?“

Sighing Loki shook his head once more. “Your fascination with dwarfs seems odd to me.”

“I don’t get why you’re bitching around. It’s not like you have anyone else to talk to.”

“We have a deal, I respect it.”

“Fine, then, ask your stupid question.”

“Why do you hate your father?”

“You stupid son of a bitch, I hate you.”

 


	9. Daddy issues

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everybody,
> 
> Tony and Loki are discussing their daddy issues... that's all :)

Tony had no idea how this had happened. Zero. Niente. Nada. What happened to his cunning plan? Go in, get the data, get out. Piss Loki off in between. That had been a good plan. A real good plan. What had happened to it? It had been shot, killed and the body had been taken care of. Probably chopped up into little pieces. Tony had wanted to use Loki as a lab rat and now the psychopath was playing his psychologist. This turn out of events had to be savoured. Pepper has been chewing Tony’s ear off for years that he… Well, that he should talk with somebody. Somebody who was taking notes while Tony was lying on the couch and poured his heart out. Until now Tony had always preferred a bottle of scotch. And where was he now? Sitting on the floor of in front of a cell in Asgard, leaning against the wall, staring at the force field and dished the dirt. Loki was a good listener after all and it was one of Tony’s favourite topics to rant about.

“… not even a ‘Well done, Tony’ or ‘Bravo, Tony’. As if he had preferred to bite of his tongue off instead of appreciating that I did something well!” God, Tony was dying for a glass of fine whiskey. That would be perfect to way to wash down the bitterness. Tony’s field of expertise. Were there no bars in Asgard? Probably not. Uncivilised bunch of idiots.

„It's a miracle that I turned out to be such a normal and sensible person. Judging by the endless amount of love that I received I should also be running around, wearing a stupid cape and try to take over the world. The project thesis for the MIT was reason enough… it got published in a journal and what is he doing? He tells me that I needed a lot of time for such an awfully simple concept… What the fuck? I never asked for anything! Never! When I was brilliant and I was brilliant all the time, it wasn’t worth mentioning, but when I steal his Porsche one single fucking time and go for a ride with two girls, yeah, then he suddenly knows that I exist.”

Something wasn’t right with Tony. Apart from the obvious issues, this was something else. He usually never talked about his father and now the words were just flowing from his mouth like a damned river. In front of Loki. Who else to pour your heart out but to the guy who threw you out of a window? There was no person in the whole world… or worlds that Tony was less close to. On the other hand Loki was sitting here. In a cell, in another world, locked away. Nobody was here to tell it to. Loki would know it, but he was stuck in this hole. A hole Tony could throw his whole frustration into. Far away. Would be nice if that could all stay here. That was probably the reason why Tony was talking so much.

Until now Loki’s face hadn’t given away any reaction. Not the tiniest bit. Nevertheless he was still obviously listening. A face like a mask, but his eyes were focused on Tony. Not on a book or the sketchbook in his hands. Only Tony. Since it was still pretty improbable that Loki was interested in his problems, he was most likely after information. Whatever, he was still stuck in this hole.

“I was great, I was the winner ticket. It’s his own fucking fault that he didn’t get that. There, you see, I still turned out to be a awesome. What’s your excuse?”

Loki actually raised an eyebrow. Still no expression on this dollface. Dollface? Where did that come from?

“I do what I want. I don’t need any mo-…“

“Oh, bullshit. Thor doesn’t do anything else than talking about his little, sweet brother and how nice and tame he used to be. Okay, not his exact wording, but it comes down to you having some mental breakdown when you found out about being adopted. I think that you were already messed up before that, but it still counts as some kind of motivation.”

“You don’t have any idea what you’re talking about, Stark.”

“Nevermind, never stopped me from doing so. Moreover anyone can see on your face that you have some problems with your daddy. So what. Half of all women in Los Angeles have those too. Most of them use it to pick up guys. I don’t know if you’re into that kind of thing, but they live with it pretty well.“ Tony was all too glad to distract from himself and to mock Loki a little bit. Or he might end up thinking that he was Tony’s psychologist. At least Loki had now only three questions left to annoy Tony with. He’d get his data and then he’d be so out of here. With a little bit of luck he would soon be drinking a bottle of scotch and would never remember any of the stuff he had told this psycho. Creepy.

By now he wouldn’t feel so uneasy if Loki was focusing something else. The sketchblock, a book. This way Tony would be able to breathe and to go into denial. Loki wouldn’t be Loki if he did him this favour, so of course not. “Stark, your stories don’t make a lot of sense. You play down the problema you have with your father, but during the last 24 minutes you have done nothing else but talking about how angry you are at him. By doing so you made it impossible to… play down the problems…as you call them… I have with my father. Your own, nothing in comparison to mine, aren’t considered minor by yourself.”

“My father was an idiot who didn’t want a kid but a clone of himself, that’s why he never bothered. A father who takes in a child that isn’t his own and who raises it as his own… that sounds much more like a father to me.” If Loki wanted to play ‘Who’s had the crappier childhood’ he was definitely going to lose.

What Tony didn’t expect was Loki’s laughter. Dry and full of bitterness and he still sounded like laughing at Tony’s stupidity. Or at how stupidly he acted. “To one man it’s an act of compassion. To another man it’s a compelling opportunity that you can take advantage of and to the third man… to the third it’s a crime.”

Tony felt an uneasy prickling in his stomach. Of course, Loki talked a lot and most of the time probably only lies left his mouth and he deformed the truth like he wanted to. Yet, judging by his eyes Tony believed that there was more to it. Since they were already discussing motives… Thor held speeches about his little brother as if he had only gotten lost on the dark path, but somewhere inside he was still made of cotton candy, Teddybears and stardust. Misunderstood? If there was the tiniest little bit of stardust in Loki, then something major must have gone wrong. The whole story about the adoption, yes, but a guy had to be pretty unstable before that to instantly want to conquer the world?

Whose therapy was happening right now?

“Fine, nevermind… we’ll talk about it. Why is it a crime? You’re talking about yourself. Compassion and advantage… no. Why? What crime?“

„Why don’t ask Thor your questions, Man of Iron? He seems to be very eager to talk about me and you for sure enjoy each other’s company.” Suddenly Loki seemed to be done with the conversation or why did he want to get rid of him now? Probably because Tony was getting to him and he didn’t want to let him know so much about himself. On the other hand Tony also told him a lot of stuff.

He wasn’t going to get away that easy. “I don’t want to hear the answers from Thor, but from you.”

The most perfect answer he could have given. Loki’s eyes had a traitorous glimmer in them and his mouth looked strangely tensed. “Why would you prefer the answers of a liar to the answers of a friend?”

Good argument, but logic had never worked well on Tony… expect when it came down to engineering or mathematics. “It’s your life, why should I let someone else tell me about it? To you it’s a crime. To others maybe it isn’t, so you have to explain it to me. If I do have still questions afterwards, I’ll go to Thor and then I’ll decide for myself if it was a crime or not.”

His explanation was evidently met with goodwill since Loki hinted at a small nod. “I can accept that.“

Nevertheless he continued to keep silent and Tony chose for once to just wait. Until now Loki hadn’t broken the eye-contact. Either was still expecting another remark or he needed a little time. Tony could try for the first time in his life to have some patience.

Surprisingly enough he got rewarded for it. “No child was ever adopted by Odin, no matter how Thor likes to call it. A child without parents, of another world. Odin took it, as a trophy, as a hostage, as a tool for future negotiations or to apply pressure. Calculation, strategy, those are the words you should use, Stark. Compassion has nothing to do with it. Is it an act of compassion to dress a child in another skin than its own? To make it believe that the own reflection in the mirror is a representation of the truth, when its only purpose is to hide the monster underneath? The child can’t see the monster, can’t know that it is there, but it is there and Odin knows it’s there. For this very reason he can’t treat the child like his own flesh and blood, no matter how hard the child tries, to be better, to be a good son. It can always feel that something is different. But what child would ever suspect a monster underneath his own skin, the only skin he had ever known.”

One could think that Tony had already heard enough. Had seen enough. Had lived through enough. An alien invasion. Mind control. Technology that surpassed human imagination. He had even seen the Bifröst and yet he was speechless. Did they steal this shit from some piece of Shakespeare? Sure, there were all kind of attitudes concerning how to raise a child and the guidebooks changed every fucking year, but everybody would probably agree that someone had fucked up big time here. Still a bit cautious Tony tried to find in Loki’s face the slightest indication of a lie. If it wasn’t a lie, maybe he had added a few little details.

The eyes seemed to be far away despite looking at Tony. That didn’t mean anything. No, there were was no reason to believe that Loki was making this up. “You aren’t adopted… you are… from another world… nobody told you about that until you found out yourself. Let me guess, that happened right before you started fucking shit up.”

”You summed up what I’ve just said.” Tony wasn’t sure if Loki already regretting telling all that since he was turning back to his drawing.

Maybe he thought everything important had been said.

Was it now up to Tony to continue the conversation? Should be quite an easy task, but right now he couldn’t think of anything to say. Somebody had put a weight on his chest. Breathing was difficult, but this time it had nothing to do with a panic attack. Tony felt bad, he felt bad because of the stuff Loki had said. To hell with him, he wasn’t starting to sympathize with Loki? He knew too little for that and it was still Loki.

”That means… you’re saying that Thor is going to sit on the throne, because he is Odin’s biological child and… also Asgardian. You’re not.”

Loki didn’t reply, but his face hardened so much that he didn’t have to say anything.

Tony should shut his damned mouth, urgently. He should run home and look at all the footage of Loki’s attack on New York. “It was wrong. He should have told you… who you are. You were entitled to know.“

Uncomfortable silence settled in, while Loki didn’t look a single time at Tony. The latter watched the other, before his eyes came to rest on the instruments next to him. Right, holograms. The reason why he was here. Didn’t Loki say something about them giving him another skin? Was the Loki in front of him also an illusion? Or the way he looked like? So why didn’t the instruments react to that? This magic bullshit was way too complicated for Tony.

”That’s why you can touch the force field… or why you can stand it longer than other people. You are different…”

Loki’s hand stopped in mid-motion, only for a second, then he continued to draw. Didn’t want to let show that Tony was figuring out things. Fuck the holograms, this was way more interesting. With every passing second Tony realised what was actually happening here. Loki was opening up. Loki, the crazy psychopath with the reindeer helmet, had let Tony, the alcoholic playboy with panic attacks, look into his soul. Only at the surface, sure. Yet it was somehow comforting and at the same time scary that Loki wasn’t Thor’s bad, different looking twin. Yeah, there were enough sick idiots who were born sick and were bound to go crazy. No, something happened to Loki. Some real fucked up shit. That still wasn’t an excuse for what he had done, but suddenly it was way harder for Tony to only see a murderous madman in front of him.

”Who are you?” Tony had to instantly rephrase this question. “I mean… you aren’t Asgardian. Which world are you from? You have to know that if you’re calling yourself a monster… something  I don’t really get after all you’ve been talking about dwarfs, goblins and dragons who eat the dead. That sounds more like monster to me.”

“You mortals use that term way too often and way too liberal.”

”Whatever… You aren’t going to tell me, I see.” Tony swallowed a sigh and sent all reason and sensibility to hell. “Fathers are overrated. I’ve never really had one and when I had one, he only made me feel like shit. They screwed you over... your own identity, that’s a biggie… Don’t think I’m going to fraternize with you now, you’re still crazy and I trust you as far as I can throw you without wearing my suit, but… you have every right to be pissed off at your father.”

What followed was bizarre, Tony couldn’t describe it differently. Loki’s gaze was fixed on him and way more intensely than before. Tony didn’t even dare to look away. Sadly he could read nothing on Loki’s face. Deep green eyes and so full of life. Not the eyes of a resigned prisoner, but of somebody who still wanted to do a lot of stuff. And somehow Tony played a part in that. Or didn’t Loki know that himself?

“I appreciate your words, Man of Iron and I want to thank you.”

That was all, then he went back to drawing, completely calm, as if they had never had this conversation. A little bit surprised Tony observed him doing that and was expecting a new question. After all Loki had still three questions left, but at the moment he didn’t seem to want to talk to Tony.

“Uhm… Loki? Your questions…“

„Not today, Man of Iron. Enough has been said and I’m tired of talking.“

That was against their deal, but Tony had to acknowledge that he didn’t mind. Loki was right, they had said enough for today.   



	10. Language teaching

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everybody,
> 
> Tony gets Loki a gift and that's all 
> 
> Have fun :)

Popcorn, beer and Terminator 2 – what could a man want more? This way Tony could spend the evening relaxing. At least he thought so, but when he was lying in front of the TV, he couldn’t really get into it. Watching how Arnold Schwarzenegger beat up another robot was always amusing, but there was too much going on in Tony’s head. His own life was more exciting than any film. How should he focus on machines trying to take over the world, if he was still bothered by thoughts of an alien god?

Tony would love to ask Thor a few things about Loki’s so called adoption. A lot of thing weren’t right with that. Loki had given him lots of new information which had also brought up just as many questions. The most astonishing thing was that they made Tony think in a new way, a way which he hadn’t been expecting. There was a possibility that Loki hadn’t been born as a batshit crazy idiot, but other people had had their share in that evolution.

“Jarvis, look around in the databases of every university of the country… stuff you can find about the consequences of a shitty childhood.”

“A more precise definition of the circumstances of said childhood would be very helpful to narrow down the results, sir.”

Well, Jarvis was right about that, but the exact circumstances wouldn’t be found in any database. Consequences of the psyche of an adopted child when it finds out that isn’t a human at all, but a koala bear? Not very likely that somebody had written a thesis about that sort of thing. “Adoption, rivalry between siblings, parents who treat the adopted and the biological child differently, kids who weren’t allowed to have any information about their real parents… that sort of thing. I would like to know if these kids have any chance to grow up normal. If you find something about trying to take over the world that would be really helpful.”

Jarvis confirmed him that he would know look through all the known databases and Tony could try to watch the movie. If Jarvis was going to write him a nice résumé, there was still a lot of time left to relax. Or try to. That couldn’t be true, now Loki was really fucking up his TV night without even being here. What would be next? Was hell going to freeze over or would Steve start to use swear words? It was even more absurd that Loki wasn’t keeping his thoughts busy because he was blowing stuff up or throwing people out of windows. No, Tony Stark was thinking about Loki’s fucking emotional state. This day had to be marked on the calendar and somebody had to throw a parade.

Well, at least now he had something new Tony could blame his father for. If Tony’s childhood and his teenage years hadn’t been this fucked up, Tony would have laughed in Loki’s face and said ‘Bad for you, but not my problem’. A nice ‘Fuck you’ would do Loki good, but a quiet voice in the back of Tony’s mind told him that people couldn’t be blamed for their horrible fathers. Tony had decided that he wouldn’t let himself by influenced by his father and yet he had always longed for his approval. It was just so damned hard to step out of his shadow.

Now Tony needed a long sip from his beer to wash away the disgusting taste of pity. Horrendous. Window. That was what he should be thinking about. Loki had thrown him out off a window. You didn’t do that sort of thing. Well, now Loki had told him some pretty personal stuff. Things that Tony would have never expected. And vice-versa. If Tony was now sitting here, pondering all those things, maybe Loki was doing the same? That might be a horribly vain thought, but Tony was a hell of an interesting person and his issues weren’t peanuts either. They didn’t have to give Loki sleepless nights. Did that guy sleep at all? Nah, Tony would put a lot of money and his suits on the fact that Loki was just hanging around right now in reading one of his books. What would he be doing when he had finished all of them? After all there was nothing else for him to do but than reading and drawing. With all the time he had at his disposal he would finish the whole pile of books in a few days. Probably they would give him new ones. Was he allowed to choose? Did he get them instantly when he was finished with the others? What if the only brought him shit? Asgard’s version of Twilight or something like that? Loki would hang himself inside of his cell and that would be a shame. Because there would be no holograms for Tony, of course.

Reading material… yeah, why not. If he had already smoked the pipe of peace with Loki and they had pretty much bared their souls in front of each other… well, Tony could suck up to him a little bit more. “Jarvis, please, make up a dossier with results. I’ll go on a field trip to the library. And no, I’m not ill.”

That something he had to repeat for Pepper the next morning. Tony knew that he was in trouble as soon as the elevator doors opened. Pepper’s heels made that sound that usually tormented Tony’s brain, but today that surprisingly wasn’t the case. Well, yes, he wasn’t hangover and more or less well rested. Pepper was just as shocked as him. “Tony? You’re already awake?“

„Yap, Pepper, light of my life. Want some coffee, make yourself at home. I would love to chat a little bit, but I don’t have a lot of time. My taxi to Sing Sing is gonna show up in a minute.”

Now Tony was wondering himself why he was in such a good mood. Was that the appropriate reaction after reading several pages about how parents could fuck up your entire life? The stuff Jarvis had found confirmed that life hadn’t been a bed of roses for Loki. Megalomania combined with an inferiority complex and probably 1000 other things that were boiling underneath the surface. A complete identity crisis and now he was lashing out at everybody. All very nice, but even the psychologists wrote in their papers that a fucked up childhood wasn’t an excuse for everything you do. There were people who let themselves get down and yes, those were poor bastards, but others were too and they didn’t want to conquer the world. Bad Loki.

“Again? Tony, you originally said something about a few hours. Now you want to go the third day in a row to Asgard. I probably should be glad that you’re coming back at all.”

“Yes, I’ve already thought about asking Thor if I could have a room.”

“Tony!” Pepper scowled at him, but Tony knew that it was a proof of affection. He would be pissed off if he had to worry about himself all the time. How was she even putting up with that? “Pepper, relax, everything’s great and you don’t have to worry for a second. I’m surrounded all the fucking time by a bunch of guards who are constantly pissed off and look like they want to beat the crap out of Loki. He’s sitting in his cell and if I get a little bit to close, I’m being punished. Should be the other way around, but whatever…”

That wasn’t helping to reduce the lines on Pepper’s forehead. “It’s not actually reassuring to know that you spend your time in the dungeon of a criminal and you’re liking it. It’s like in Silence of the lambs.”

“It’s not just Loki, but all of Asgard. It’s fascinating and everything what I learn from Loki could be useful. Don’t worry, I won’t spend the rest of my life in Asgard. I still need some information and I’ve got a feeling that there is even more. So be a darling and support my madness, who else is going to do it?” His most charming smile and Pepper only sighed loudly. “Could you at least sign some of my documents before you won’t even be on this planet anymore and I will die worrying about you… because you won’t be on this planet anymore.”

Why was this a reason to worry? Tony didn’t get that, but who was actually able to understand women? However he did Pepper the favour and spent a few minutes playing CEO until a loud thunder announced his tax. Very good, Tony couldn’t wait.

  
***

  
Loki couldn’t make it even more obvious that something had changed. Pretending that Tony didn’t exist wasn’t a thing anymore. When Tony was walking down the floor and loudly greeted the guards with the names he had made up fort hem, Loki wasn’t reading or drawing. Instead he was sitting in one of his chairs and his gaze was instantly fixed on Tony. No greeting, not even a gesture, but he was looking at him. That was pretty much the same as a hug.  
”Hello, rock of ages, you had a good night of sleep? Nice breakfast? Ready for another exciting day in my company?“ Tony put his instruments on the floor and realised that Loki was way more interested in it than in Tony. Spoilsport.

“This book isn’t part of your equipment, Man of Iron.”

“Good observation skills, Lokes.” He held the book up high and waved with it. “This is a little present for you, because you somehow behaved decently yesterday and I’m also in a good mood.”

Yep, these green eyes told Tony that Loki was intrigued although he would never admit that. “You assume that Midgardian literature would be of any value to me?”

”I believe that you would cover your walls with Shakespeare if you knew him. That would have been a good idea, but now we have to work with what we have. Ovid, Metamorphoses. I’m sure it’s your kind of thing.“ Tony turned around to the guards who were still pretending that nobody else was here. “Hey, can somebody open a lock or a sluice or anything, so I can get the book in his cage?”

Nobody reacted, but only Loki behind laughed amusedly. “Stark, my books are brought in here by magic.”

“Fine, then they’ll do it that way.”

“They are not capable of doing that.”

“Always so complicated. Good, who is capable of doing that and that person better get their ass over here.”

Loki’s gaze got dark and Tony sighed. Obviously he stepped on some landmine. Again. “This isn’t of importance.”

Tony’s thin patience was already running out, but since his curiosity was still the dominating feeling, he would have to do it the hard way. “Fine. Then you will be moving your ass over to the force field. We’ll do a little reading, come on, you’ll love it.“

Without waiting for a reaction Tony sat down on the floor in front of the force field, opened the book and positioned in his lap so that Loki would be able to read it. Tony couldn’t stop himself from feeling a little bit proud when Loki really did come over and mirrored his pose. Fascinated Tony watched how green eyes wandered over the open page. “This language is unknown to me.”

„Thought so, it’s called Latin. It’s a dead language, but most linguists are of the opinion that… there isn’t any smarter language… or something. I learned the runes although you thought I couldn’t do it. Well, here’s your chance to prove how smart you really are.” No way he was trying to conceal his grin. It only got better, because Loki narrowed his eyes. “You are challenging me, Man of Iron?”

“No, I just want you to learn something now… if you can do it.“

“Creating equal conditions will not be possible due to the cell, but I need an extract of the book in a language that I know. Otherwise it would take me a few days.

No blinking, Tony! Don’t let him see a reaction! A few days!? Was this talking about learning an unknown language without other material within a few days?! Okay, keep calm, he was always exaggerating. “You can already start feeling grateful, because I got you a translation of the very first page. Voilà!” Tony pulled said page from the pocket of his jeans and put it on the book, so Loki could look at both versions right next to each other. “That’s all you get and you better do it fast, because I won’t be sitting here all day and hold the book.”

Loki wasn’t even listening anymore, he was reading. Green eyes that travelled from line to line with the speed of light. Tony was feeling nauseous just because he was watching him. He preferred putting on his earphones and listing to the newest single from Sia. A bizarre situation, Loki sitting right opposite of him, reading Ovid, Tony listening to pop music. The less he thought about it, the better.

In hindsight his plan wasn’t that great, because he was going to spend a lot of time sitting on the floor. But who could have none that there was no way to get the book into Loki’s cell. He would have to talk with Thor about that. What to do now? He couldn’t even more, with the book in his lap. Finally it was paying off to be a genius, he could think a little bit about some new adjustments on his suits. It was time to make them more resistant. Should he try some new material? Or a new composition? He was already in Asgard, time to ask Thor what kind of mineral they had here.

“You said this language is dead?”

Irritated Tony raised his head and pulled out the earphones. “Huh?”

Not his most intelligent statement, but it was his right to be confused when Loki was suddenly spoke up to him. “I asked you if this language is indeed dead.”

“Uhm… ja, some kids still have to learn it in school, but only reading it… so, translating. Nobody speaks it anymore. Yeah, it’s pretty much idea.”

Loki frowned and he lowered his gaze again. “Astonishing. The composition is perfectly logical. Elegant and incredibly precise. A Midgardian invention that deserves admiration.“

„Woho… slow down there, Rudolph! You want to subdue the whole place, call all human beings puny idiots, you don’t have problems with tearing great architecture down, you don’t like anything on Earth… but Latin deserves admiration?! You have issues…”

Tony didn’t even expect to get a response, Loki was content to read the two pages over and over again and Tony thought that he was getting crazier by the second. About an hour later, Tony had been thinking about a new suit, then about Asgard and finally Rihanna, Loki cleared his throat. “I have finished the page.”

“Good for you.”

A demanding glance and a twitching eyebrow.

“And what do you say?“

Was Loki growling?

”Come on, Loki, you know what to say. My back is hurting, because I’ve been sitting here for an eternity, so be a little grateful.“

What was Loki doing now? Crossing his arms in front of his chest. “I didn’t ask you for this book, although I admittedly think it’s interesting. After learning a new language to read it, it would be only fair to…”

“Hold on! Stop! You can’t tell me that you can read Latin after a single hour!“

“Yes, of course. Such a clear and proper, precisely elaborated linguistic system is not hard to learn.”

Show-off. “Prove it.” Tony turned some pages and then randomly opened a new one. “There! Read out loud! Impress me!

Without batting an eyelid Loki lowered his eyes and didn’t even take a second to prepare. “Meanwhile Daedalus, hating Crete, and his long exile, and filled with a desire to stand on his native soil, was imprisoned by the waves. ‘He may thwart our escape by land or sea’ he said ‘but the sky is surely open to us: we will go that way: Minous rules everything but he does not rule the heavens’. So saying he applied his thought to new invention and altered the natural order of things. He laid down…“

“Okay, okay!“ Unceremoniously Tony closed the book and sighed. „You kick some ass, I’m impressed, but that’s still no excuse for being such a show-off. Learning Latin in a single hour, fuck me…”

Loki responded to his shock only by raising an eyebrow. “Like I said, the composition is logical. It wasn’t hard to figure out the basics.”

“Still…

”However… that’s pretty cool.” Again Tony tried so hard not to be impressed, but Loki made it almost impossible. He didn’t want to imagine what Loki would to with a Chinese dictionary.

“I feel like asking my next question, Man of Iron.”

Very good, this way Loki would ruin his good mood, Tony would be less impressed and he could go back to hating him. It’s been way too long. “Originally we said all questions during one day, but hey… I never stick to the rules either, so shoot. Ask your question and choose wisely, young padawan.”

Why did Loki never ask what his cool references actually meant? Not even this time. Instead he asked his question and Tony’s expectations were disappointed. “Why the book, Stark? Why would you want to give me a gift?“

„It’s not a gift. I still have it.“

Loki laughed out loud. „Just because you didn’t find a possibility to get it on my side of the force field.“

Smart ass. Well, it was Tony’s own fault. He wasn’t feeling embarrassed about bringing the book, therefore he ad no problem explaining it. After all he was Tony Stark, what did he care about what Loki might have to sigh? “I thought that you don’t have too many ways to entertain yourself. You read one book after another and this here is something entirely different. I thought you would like it.” As soon as the words left his mouth Tony thought they were totally ridiculous, so he quickly shrugged. A try to make it seem more casual.  
  
His explanation wasn’t instantly accepted, because Loki just observed him intently and showed some scepticism. Of course, the whole story was indeed ridiculous. In the end Loki decided against disagreeing with him. Quite the opposite, his features seemed to relax and Tony might suffer a heart attack any second, but he thought to see a small smile on those lips. “I cannot judge the content of the book yet, but the language alone brought me more pleasure than the last Asgardian works I’ve read. I want to take a closer look at the book. Put it down in front of my cell and it will find its way to me after you left. In other respects… I owe you a debt of gratitude for the… gift.”

Ha… could he get it in there himself? Or did somebody show up during the night and did that for him? For asking Tony would only be rewarded by Loki’s bitchface, so he would just add this one on his list of questions for Thor. “You’re welcome… well… it’s just a book.”

What followed afterwards was an awkward silence before Loki looked at him demandingly. “It’s time to leave, Stark. You’re keeping me from reading.“


	11. Midgardian literature

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there, 
> 
> It's been quite a while. Tony brings Loki some new gifts, Loki asks a new question and Tony learns a shocking truth
> 
> Have fun :)

„Friend Stark, I think it is a about time to share a few words.“

Right, Thor had to hold a speech instead of taking one of Tony’s books. After all he was straining his neck to be able to look over the pile of books in his hands. His face was hidden behind it. “It’d be a pleasure, point break. Either you help me a little bit or you or I have to put everything down and I’ll have a sit-in.”

A little bit clumsy Thor now took the half of pile and observed the books suspiciously. It couldn’t get any more obvious that those hands weren’t used to handle something delicate. Hopefully Thor would make it to carry the books this short way without breaking them somehow. “What do you hope to gain with the help of these books, Man of Iron?”

“Very good question and there are a lot of answers to it. You can use them as a paper weight or to balance your table. If they have sharp edges you can throw them after people. At the moment I’m using them to put your brother in a good mood.”

Thor still seemed to be quite confused and just followed Tony when the latter happily walked on. “The court worries that you… forgot about your original motivation to come to see Loki and instead… started to entertain him.”

Judging by sound of his voice Thor felt embarrassing by his own words and Tony flinched, instantly trying to hide it. Okay, time to think, he had just asked Thor to carry the books he meant to give to Loki. Now he really needed a damn good answer. “Entertain? Thor, you have to have realised that your brother is a stubborn dickhead who isn’t voluntary cooperating? When he isn’t ignoring me, he’s insulting me, sometime he’s getting really creative, I have to give him that. Still, if I want to get some results I need his cooperation. So I’m sucking up to him. Believe me, nobody likes that less than I do. I’m getting sick thinking about it.” That definitely sounded better, that way it was also easier to make himself believe that it was true. After all it wasn’t like he went to New York Library just to get the books that he wanted to show Loki. And if he thought about which books he would like, then only because he wanted to bribe Loki.

“You give him gifts to… gain his affection?”

Thor hesitated and Tony almost dropped his books. Damn, did he have to scare him like that? Most of the books were from the library. “No reason to say it like that, point break. That sounds a lot like I would be courting him.”

There was no answer during the next seconds, no ‘Of course not, Tony’ or ‘Never, Tony!’. If Tony needed something then it was this ‘Of course not, Tony!’. So he was turning around only to realise that Thor had stopped and judging by the look on his face he was immensely embarrassed. “Holy shit! You really think that I’m courting him?!”

Instead of denying it Thor shrugged. “It is an Asgardian tradition to win the favour of the person you are courting by dedicating your achievements in combat to them. The next step would be to make gifts. Especially chosen gifts that correspond with the personality of the object of your affections. Usually it would be their weapon of choice, but in Loki’s case that would be… books.”

“My God, you guys and your weird ideas. These are books, some dead, cut trees. Nothing more. If you want to get somebody into bed, you give him nice earrings, jewellery, concert tickets, flowers, pralines, but no books. I’m ready to do pretty much anything if it makes him less hostile and gets him into the mood of creating more holograms. How do you get these kinds of ideas? From the guards? Was it Bob? Of course it was Bob, I never trusted that guy…” Quickly Tony turned around and walked on, mostly to have to look at Thor anymore. Hopefully he looked as confident as he was supposed to.

Could his life get any more crazy? Thor, a guy with a mighty hammer, asked him, the Iron Man, if he was courting Loki, the god of lies and reindeer helms. What were the odds for that? Nevertheless it was good to know that giving Loki a book as considered hitting on him. At least in Asgard. Shit, hopefully Loki wouldn’t see it like that! Had he asked Tony because of that why he had brought him a book? No… even if, Tony had made his point pretty clear.

Great, it was early in the morning and he already felt sick.

He didn’t feel any better when he was walking down the hall to Loki’s cell, now with all the books in his hands. The squealers were all there and didn’t bother to look at him as usual. “You guys don’t get a nice hello today, I’m not content with you. Most of all I’m disappointed in you, Bob. Secretly listening to other people and then telling other people their secrets, you won’t get invited to my next pyjama party.” Nobody even batted an eyelid and Tony didn’t give a shit, his attention was already entirely fixed on Loki.

Sitting on the floor, Indian style, he actually did have Metamorphoses in his hands. Was it weird that Tony felt a little proud? Then again, it was Loki. There was a possibility that he was only sitting here to tell Tony how bad the book was. The most important thing was still the fact that the book was in Loki’s hands. It was in his cell. Thor only had snort when Tony had asked how this was possible.

“Hello, rock of ages. Or should I call you bookworm?”

Loki raised his head and frowned. “I do not understand this term, Man of Iron.”

“Doesn’t matter, I brought you some gifts.” Sighing Tony put the pile of books down and flexed his muscles. Incredible, he was doing physical work for Tony.

What could a humble guy expect for that? Gratefulness? Holograms? A smile? Loki’s eyes darted shortly to the pile of books, then back to Tony. “The stories as the language they are told in were very appealing and… entertaining. I did not know that Midgardian peoples had created such a vast collection of legends and myths.”

Well, what else was there to say? Tony was a genius. It had been painfully obvious that Loki would be into Greek mythology. “You see, Rudolph… if you hadn’t tried to instantly take over the world, you would have seen that there are a lot of cool things on Earth. Things you would like.”

Deep green eyes sparkled dangerously and Tony quickly pointed at the pile of books. “But don’t panic, I brought you a little collections. Shakespeare, like I said, you are going to love him. A little bit of Dostoyevsky, easy reading. Because you’re so into Latin, I brought some Cesar and because I’m such a goof, you also get Voltaire. Don Quijote. Plato’s Politeia and to lighten things up a little bit – the Devine Comedy.“ Tony grinned while getting ready for his big finale. “And here, the greatest bestseller of your time. Twilight.”

For Loki’s reaction Tony would have to wait until he had read the books, but it would be so worth it. At the moment the god was simply looking at the pile of books. It wasn’t like Tony had expected tears of joy, but definitely more than a frown and pursed lips. “Star, we have a deal. I am a man of my word. When I have asked all my questions and when they have been answered, I will fulfil my obligations. There is no reason to try to bribe me with more books. Or to try to get in my good graces. If you are also after something else than the secret of shape shifting, then you should save some time and give up on it immediately.”

Good lord, why was he only also starting with this shit? Was it nowadays impossible to give somebody books without everybody thinking that you wanted to sleep with them? “Wow, rock of ages, I get you something to read, I’m not courting you. If I was doing that, you would definitely realise it and you wouldn’t have to ask.”

The way Loki’s eyebrows went up made Tony’s stomach turn. Bad, very bad. “That was not what I was thinking about, Man or Iron. Rather more information or other tricks, like you call them. It is though very interesting to know what you were thinking I was implying.”

That simply had to be one of the most awkward moments of Tony’s life. “Hey, don’t get cocky! That wasn’t my idea, but Thor’s! I thought you were maybe thinking the same.“

„Oaf…“ Loki turned away, shaking his head and Tony released a deep breath in relief. It was always a good idea to blame Thor. In this case it was also true. Still, time for a new issue to discuss. “So, what’s up, Lokes? You’re in the right mood today to ask your next question? We’re two days in behind and I can’t get you even more books to suck up to you. At least not today.”

Loki did something entirely new. He lay down on his bed, crossed his arms behind his head. Would Tony ever be able to get used to seeing Loki doing casual, trivial things? Without the armour and some weapon… and without that stupid helmet? Seeing Loki sitting on the floor had been strange enough, but right now it was getting too much. Loki was getting comfortable. Weird. „I have indeed a new question which I could ask you.“

It was somehow discomforting that Tony didn’t feel terrified but rather excited. Just a tiny little bit terrified, for the record. Nevertheless he sat down on the floor, feeling more or less relaxed and indicated Loki to continue talking. “I’m all ears.”

No, Loki couldn’t just ask the question like a normal person. Instead he was studying Tony, no expression on his own face. Was he choosing between different questions? Was he looking for a soft spot? Or was he really thinking about what he should ask Tony, because… he was interested? Now Tony was starting to have some questions of his own. Loki was the most interesting person he knew and the most psychotic. The stuff what he had found out until now had been very enlightening and fascinating.

“Why were you so upset about my illusion?” The question was asked so casually that Tony had to blink. Did he get that right? Judging by Loki’s face he was already waiting for an answer, while Tony didn’t even understand the question. Upset was an outraging understatement. And why did Loki sound so confused by that? Why was he asking about something so obvious? “Because you made up a very sick torture method in your sick mind. At least I hope that you made it up.”

Loki’s expression stayed stoic, his eyes fixed on Tony and his body language didn’t give the tiniest bit of his thoughts away. Where was Natasha when Tony needed her? What would he give to be able to look into this mind? Into the abyss… and the brilliance and creativity. What was happening in there? Was there chaos which Loki loved to create? And what would he be able to do if he had the possibility to do as he pleased? Or what would he have been able to do if… something things had been different?

“That was not an answer to my question, but only a description of what I did. I want an explanation for your reaction.” Dry, almost cold. While demanding information Loki sounded like he didn’t want to hear it.

A jolt went through Tony’s body. Loki wouldn’t have asked this question if he wasn’t somehow interested or if he wanted to gain something form it. At the same time he didn’t want Tony to realise that. Was this some kind of scheme or was he simply embarrassed by his own curiosity? God, Tony wanted to read Loki’s thought for just five minutes. “Because it was… awful. I have seen a lot of sick shit. Deceit, murder, abuse, assholes that get off when they hurt other people, torture… Everybody who does something like that deserves to be punished, but there is a line that you do not cross. If you do it anyway you aren’t better than the one you are punishing, but… but worse. What you showed me… that crossed the line. I wouldn’t wish that anybody. That’s all.”

Loki didn’t show if the answer was satisfying or not. No, he looked at Tony without any readable expression. Did he also wish to look into Tony’s mind? Or was he thinking about the fastest way to kill him as soon as he was out of here? “Why did you do it anyway? Yeah, you are into sick stuff, but that… putting yourself in such a situation. What for?”

Finally some kind of reaction. A shadow flickered over Loki’s face and Tony didn’t like that. “I could hear you coming down the stairs. I changed this cage because I wanted to see how you would react.”

Tony paused. Somehow he had thought that Loki had wanted to shock him, spread chaos or play games with Tony’s mind. By now Tony didn’t know anymore how to class Loki. “Okay, maybe I can understand that… a bit. But did you have to make up such bullshit? Our last therapy session already told me that you are a crazy bastard, but damn…”

“I have to disappoint you, Man of Iron. It was not my imagination that created this form of punishment. All I did was creating an image… that had already been discussed for a long time.” Loki’s lips formed a thin line and Tony was tempted to turn his gaze away, because the simple sight of Loki was reminding him of this gruesome torture. But there were these words that had just left... said mouth. “Stop, rock of ages! Stop, slow down, pause.“ Tony gesticulated wildly with his hands, although Loki was already being silent. “You don’t want to tell me that it was up for discussion that… that… they would have done that to you?! No way. I am not buying that.”

“You did believe it when you saw it.”

“Yes and what I saw wasn’t real. Point for me.” Yes, Loki didn’t say that it had happened, but that they had been thinking about it. However Tony refused to believe that such a barbaric form of punishment did exist in Asgard. “Thor told me that prisoners of Asgards aren’t tortured and don’t take it personally, but I am inclined to believe the good son.”

Loki’s eyes flashed and Tony felt the urge to take a step back. A little bit of distance between and Loki, never mind the force field. His talent to piss Loki off hadn’t faded away. “This is indeed Asgardian tradition… relating to prisoners of war. Asgard likes praise itself for its own mercy. If you are being punished for treason, it’s a totally different matter. My crime was treason. There was no mercy to be expected.”

A taste so bitter filled Tony’s mouth that he thought he had to throw up any second. Besides that he felt incredibly light-headed, like he could collapse any second. “What you are trying to tell me, is… that they thought about… breaking your bones, enchain you and…” Because Tony didn’t even want to say it, he just put his hand over his own mouth.

“Indeed. The queen was very eager to save me from that fate. Without her commitment the illusion would not have been necessary.“  
During his whole life Tony had never had problem to find a stupid comment for any kind of situation. Now he couldn’t even remember how to talk. This wasn’t some other, advanced dimension or intergalatic realm. They also had a love for violence and cruelty like humans did. Nothing here was better and it made Tony’s blood boil. He couldn’t just believe Loki, every fibre of his body was fighting against it. Tony had to be sure. The highest judge in this nuthouse was Loki’s father after all. Even a fucked up father wouldn’t let anyone even discuss such an option. If you had seen your own kid falling down, grazing its knees and crying, then you wouldn’t do anything else for the rest of your life but trying to keep every form of pain away from your child. Punishment and justice, very nice, but this shit was beyond Tony’s imagination. Unless Loki was weaving a web of lies. Tony had to find out what was true. “Uhm…you can talk a while to yourself. Paint a portrait… or read one of the new books… make up a new plan how to take over the world. I have to go, important stuff… to… do. See ya and don’t let Bob annoy you or I’ll have him fired.”

Loki only raised an eyebrow while Tony was getting up on his feet. “What are you up to, Man or Iron.”

“I’ll have a talk with Thor.”  



	12. Gratitude

_I would have never allowed that my brother would be treated in such a manner, Man of Iron_

The cocktail in Tony’s hand had a strange colour. Red, orange, yellow and it looked somehow poisonous. Tony could stare into the glass as long as he wanted, but he still didn’t see anything. At every single one of these events where Pepper dragged him to Tony did anything else than what was expected of him. Or what Pepper was expecting him to do. Normally that meant that he got shit faced and hit on at least 10 different women. What was he doing now? He was staring into his cocktail glass and was indifferent to everything that happened around him.

_They had indeed considered… other forms of punishment since Loki’s crimes were too gruesome to simply spend the rest of his life in the dungeons._

Fucking Asgardians with their fucking ideas about justice and their penalty system. At least Thor had had the decency to look ashamed. That wasn’t the worst thing after all. With a lot of alcohol Tony would be able to deal with this kind of madness. The shocking part was something entirely different.

Loki had said the truth. Loki, the god of lies, had been honest. No exaggeration, no leaving things out or turning them around. If Loki had said the truth about his ‘almost punishment’ then there was a strong possibility that he had also been honest about other stuff. About his heritage, the difficult relationship to his father… a father who had thought about sewing the mouth of his own child shut. The mere thought about hurting his child should be unbearable for a parent.

A day that should be marked in the calendar. Tony had stumbled into a story in which Loki wasn’t the bad guy. At least not entirely. Yeah sure, he was still a psychotic criminal, but if there was somebody who was supposed to love you, no matter what you did, it would be your parents. That didn’t mean that they had to forgive you, but they should still try to shield you from harm. This clearly wasn’t the case here.

What did that mean? Tony would have to get these Asgardians a copy of the declaration of the human rights.

Sighing Tony put his glass down and pushed it away. He clearly wasn’t in the mood for pretty drinks. Something that would burn terribly on its way down his throat and destroy his memory would be better. Not even good drinks were served at this painful event that Pepper had dragged him to. After avoiding every kind of conversation for about an hour Tony had ended up at the bar and pondered on Thor’s word.

Loki knew what could have been his fate. Even if had never happened. It had fuelled his anger even more.

There it was again, that bitter taste in Tony’s mouth, but he had to admit that Loki was right. How shouldn’t he be trembling with rage or feeling betrayed? If it had been a foreign tribunal or strangers who had made this decision, but no…his own father. The man who had raised him.

“Sick people…” Tony muttered under his breath and gave the bartender a small sign. “Vodka. Straight.”

Due to this evening being a fucking disaster he didn’t even have the time to sip at his drink before Pepper was standing next to him, playing his babysitter. She looked so good in her elegant, long, red dress. Or she would be looking beautiful if it wasn’t for the frown and the knitted brows. “Tony, what are you doing here?”

“I’m enjoying the party.” Demonstratively Tony raised his glass which made him listen to the sigh of a woman who had given up all hope. “Tony, I know that there isn’t much left that can be done for your image, but I urgently ask you to not get drunk at a party of your own company. Not in a room full of potential clients and people we are negotiating with.”

In which universe would he give a fuck about that? “Pepper, I would disappoint them all if I didn’t get shitfaced. I’m only doing this for the general public.”

His intention had been to scare her off with that, but sadly Pepper knew him too well to fall for it. Instead of continuing being angry at him and leaving him alone, Pepper’s face suddenly started to show worry. Nah, Tony didn’t need that at all right now. His friend Vodka and him didn’t want to be disturbed. “Tony, I can tell if you really want to drive me insane or if you want to get rid of me. What is going on? Something happened in Asgard? I told you that you shouldn’t go there. Constantly working with a psychopath can’t be healthy.“

Tony huffed and took a sip from his Vodka. It didn’t burn enough to calm down his thoughts or to deny the truth in Pepper’s words. No, his little trips to Asgard weren’t healthy if he considered how he was feeling right now. How could somebody be so reckless and insane that Tony was ready to sympathize with Loki? This thought was so strange that Tony wanted to jug his drink. Perhaps he could kill like that every positive feeling towards Loki and some other ideas that Tony had started to get. Pepper had suggested to him throughout the years to undergo therapy and Tony had reacted to it like Tony Stark would. Laughed, drank, picked up a woman and the thing was dealt with. Now he was suddenly really tempted to lie down on Doctor Freud’s couch and let him mess with his brain.

He almost jumped out of his skin when Pepper sat down on the stool next to him. Her eyes were full of worry, a proof of how well she knew him. She knew that he wasn’t just playing the eccentric billionaire. “Tony?”

“Grey is a fucked up colour, Pepper. Did you know that? I mean the grey costume you were wearing lately looked freaking hot, but besides that shades of grey are completely fucked up. Especially the book. Life would be so much nicer if everything would be black and white. Like in the old movies. Or in new movies when the director tries to be all ‘avantgarde’. Black and white. Done.“

On her face Tony couldn’t see any sign that she understood what he was trying to talk about. Then again Pepper knew where he had spent the last couple of days. Therefore he wouldn’t mind if she was about to slap him. No, she was actually putting a hand on his shoulder. “That’s the great thing about life, Tony. If everything was black or white, then I would have quit this job years ago. Nobody has just one single quality… and because I know why we’re having this conversation I have to admit that this might also be the case with Loki. Probably he has some positive qualities. Perhaps he likes to recycle, who knows…”

Even if he didn’t feel like it Tony had to laugh quietly and imagined how Loki was sitting next to a trashcan and separating plastic from paper. “Nice picture, but it’s not about Loki. Not really. It’s because the whole damned thing. Thor, his father, the whole society there… It was really easy to see Loki as some kind of psycho who wields his sceptre and just wants to conquer the world. Then you find out that he likes foreign languages, literature and art. Apart from a totally fucked up childhood and father who would have loved to spend some time with Howard…”

Now the worry disappeared and Pepper looked surprised. “Tony, are you starting to sympathize with Loki? The man who threw you out a window?”

“No, what do you think about me? It was just… you see the façade of a house and inside it looks completely different than you expected. It’s more than you see at first glance. I can get that. Most people think all kinds of shit about me, you know me and know that not everything is like it’s written in the newspapers. I don’t want to say that Loki isn’t insane, because he totally is. But some shit has happened to him. I’ve got a feeling that it could have been different. That’s very unsatisfying and alarming.” Tony was raising his glass when Pepper simply took it from him. “No reason to get drunk, Tony! Listen, you know what I think about your little trips to Asgard. You wanted to improve your technology, but you didn’t get any further. Instead you’re spending time with him and it makes you want to get drunk. Don’t you think it’s possible that Loki plays a game with you? To gain your pity or understanding? Can you really rule that out?”

No, you could never rule out anything in Tony’s life. But he could think about the probabilities and analyze what he already knew. “He is bored and I can’t rule out that he wants to manipulate me, but he definitely wants to be entertained. Moreover it doesn’t upset me what he has said or what he has done. It’s his dad…”

“What if it’s that what he wants? Tony, don’t be mad at me, but you are especially sensitive when it comes down to bad dads. You don’t have to a genius to find that out… You don’t have to go to Asgard another time. If you think it’s starting to stress you… you should stop.”

Tony sighed and he was dying for another glass. “It doesn’t stress me, Pepper. Loki doesn’t stress me. Quite the opposite… don’t have instantly shipped to the madhouse, but it’s fun talking to him. He is smart, he says interesting things and he can act surprisingly civilized in his cage. Believe me, I do think this is disturbing, but these conversations with Loki aren’t stressing me.”

Pepper opened her mouth, but changed her mind and didn’t react to what he had just said. This gave Tony the possibility to think about it himself. No, it was the truth. The trips to visit Loki were entertaining, fascinating and until now Loki hadn’t done anything to freak Tony out. The illusion was somehow Odin’s fault after all. To Pepper he could admit pretty much anything, but if Fury for example should ever hear that Tony could get comfortable in a cell and a straitjacket.

“Tony…” Pepper probably had never voiced his name with that much frustration. “You are sympathizing with him. I know I can’t talk you out of anything. I just ask you to be careful. No matter what interesting stuff he tells you, he threw you out of a window and that wasn’t the only thing he did.”

As always Pepper was right and Tony decided to not bring any books next time.

 ***

Something with less than 200 pages didn’t count as a book, right? It fitted into the pocket of his jacket, so it wasn’t a real book and Tony wasn’t even sure if he was about to give it to Loki. After all the others were right, Pepper, Thor and maybe even Bob. Tony couldn’t continue to give him books. Thor greeted Tony as always with a smile and looked way more relaxed since Tony had explained him that he didn’t plan on hitting on his brother. With books.

Yesterday Thor had explained to Tony what they would have done with Loki and that seemed to be less of a problem than the idea of Tony having another motive for being here than the holograms. He should be too ashamed to look Tony or Loki in the eyes, but no, Thor was in a good mood. It made Tony sick and furious and he didn’t want to think too much about why it was bothering him.

“Do you think your strategy concerning my brother is successful?”

Sure more successful than sewing his mouth shut. “We have a deal and I think that your brother will respect it. Until now he hasn’t given me any reason to expect something different.” Tony kept it short and simple and immediately felt better when Thor left him alone and Tony made his way to Loki’s cell.

What waited for him behind the force field was strange. Yes, Loki had ignored him more than one time, he had perfected the art of ignoring. Now he was sitting on the floor, in Lotus style, a book in his hands and the others arranged in a circle around him. That didn’t have to mean anything, Loki read all the time and didn’t look at Tony. Still until now Tony had always had the feeling that the god knew when he was present. Now he wasn’t so sure. How captured by a book did a god with hyper senses have to be to no realise somebody watching him?

Because he didn’t know if he was just imagining things Tony’s voice sounded very unsure when he spoke up. “Loki?”

Said person raised his head and the movement was a bit too fast to not be caused by surprise. His eyes found Tony’s and were unreadable. Not hostile, Tony was convinced. „Stark, I didn’t hear you coming.“

Fact. He said it as a fact, without surprise or astonishment. Didn’t matter anyway, Tony knew that Loki could hardly believe that he hadn’t heard Tony coming. Normally he would dwell on that knowledge, but now Tony only chuckled. “Interesting book?”

Loki’s gaze fell back onto the book in his hands, then again back to Tony. “It surpasses the beauty and elegance of all Asgaridan words that I’ve ever read. Also the meaning of the story shows eloquence and wisdom. I would like to meet the author to talk with him about it.”

Tony’s mouth fell open and the next second he started praying desperately that Loki didn’t mean Twilight. That would be pretty much mean the world was about to end. Loki had just declared that a piece of Midgardian literature was better than anything Asgard had ever written. The same guy who had said that humanity wasn’t good enough to do anything else but kneel. Tony needed a second to think about that. Sadly he couldn’t make out which book Loki was holding in his hands, but there was no way he wasn’t going to find out. “Which one?”

“It is called Candide.“ Hell no, there was an actual hint of awe in Loki’s voice.

“Ah, well, good old Voltaire. Wait a second… I gave you the original version. It’s in French… don’t tell me that you learned that too! Without some translation!”

The question seemed to astonish Loki. „It obviously descended from the dead language that I’ve already learned. The words are incredibly similar, it was easy to learn the structure and basic rules.”

Of course, why was Tony asking anyway? “Cool… Cool that you liked it. I have to disappoint you, Voltaire has been dead for over 200 years or so.”

This piece of information definitely didn’t do anything to make Loki happy. “A pity. I hope he was admired and celebrated during his lifetime. If not that would mean that you mortals are not able to recognize greatness among your own people.“

Thank god, he was still a bit patronizing. “Oh, don’t worry, he was a star during his whole life. Did you read some of the others too?”

Loki nodded. „Not all yet. I have to admit that your selection was to my taste. I’ve read the work of the man called Shakespeare a few times, just like the records about the war in Gaul. Both are evidence of intelligence and noble poetry… but this…” He held up the book, looking almost awestruck. “It is unexcelled.”

Wow, probably not even French literature scholars were that much into Voltaire. “Well, I know about a good read.”

Confused Tony watched how Loki put the book carefully away and got up. Without hesitation he walked up to Tony and stopped right in front of the force field. “Even though I do know the reason why you made me this gift all too well, I have to acknowledge that I have never received a gift more beautiful. I am indebted to you. Therefore I will defy our deal and just give you what you want.”

That all happened way too fast and didn’t make any sense. Still Loki hold up his hand and some form of green energy built up between his fingers. It moved, floated and finally formed an object. Tony gasped when he saw his arc-reactor in Loki’s hand. That was so going on the list of the 100 greatest things that Tony has ever witnessed. Instinctively Tony put a hand on his chest just to be sure that the reactor was still there. Nevertheless he knew very well that Loki had only created an illusion. An incredibly detailed and precise illusion. As sudden as he had created it Loki let it disappear. Tony raised his head and because he was unsure what to say he chose a simple “Thank you.”

Instantly he turned to his devices, which hadn’t been used in days, but had never been switched off. The illusion had been registered, there were clear increases and decreases of energy and it reminded Tony way too well of the data that he already had. “Fucking shit…”

Loki chuckled next to him. „What?“

„The fucking force field… can you do a bigger illusion? That one was too small to give me enough information, the force field blocked most of it.” Tony sighed in frustration and felt the urge to stamp on the floor like a little child. “Please do that again, only bigger.”

There he was again, that fucking jerk who was shaking his head. “This was an act of my gratitude, Man of Iron. I am not obligated to do any more.”

“But it wasn’t enough!”

A grin spread on Loki’s lips. “Well, you will have to give up or to stay here for some more time.”

Tony felt a strong heat rising up inside him, spontaneous rage which immediately faded away again. Instead there was a very different feeling and now it was Tony who was grinning. “I don’t believe it, rock of ages. You want me to stay.”

Loki raised an eyebrow and maybe looked a bit too indifferent. “You may be occasionally entertaining… and tedious.”

Tony’s grin only grew wider. “You want me to stay! You like me!”

All he got in response was a groan and a god who rolled his eyes. “I like the books. Preferably more Voltaire.”

“Loki likes me. I’ll print that on a T-shirt.“

"I feel the urge to murder you, Stark."

“Ah, you wouldn’t do that anyway, you like me.”

 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's a lovely fanart created by the lovely Diva Iana. It's an idea of how Tony's T-Shirt would look like :)
> 
> http://diva-iana.deviantart.com/art/Tony-and-Loki-THAT-Shirt-523292717


	13. Starting all over again

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everybody,
> 
> Tony walks with his best friend about Loki and Loki... is acting weird

Basically Loki had acted like a decent human being… Asgardian… adopted… person. Whatever. Tony still couldn’t resist punishing him nonetheless. The little illusion had been a little bit too cocky, right? Yes, Tony had gathered some interesting data which he wouldn't have got otherwise, but it still didn’t suffice to use it for his technology. So Tony would give Loki some time to think about what he had done.

In the meantime he had a T-shirt printed and he bought a beautiful edition of Voltaire’s collected works. Also a book about the Enlightenment, Loki needed a bit of context after all.

Tony had planed a fantastic weekend, Friday he would get drunk and sleep with the most beautiful woman in the bar. Saturday afternoon he would finish the latest update on his suit and Saturday night the same routine like Friday. Sunday was Loki time. For once in his life Tony had a decent plan and Pepper had to fuck it all up – by sending Bruce.

The second his science buddy entered the room Tony already knew what was going on. It was so easy to read it on Bruce’s face. “Bruce, can’t you come over because you actually want to see me? Does Pepper really have to talk you into it?”

If Bruce was the slightest bit irritated by this greeting, he didn’t show it, but hinted at a smile. “She’s worried and wanted me to come over… and my opinion on your sanity.”

“The usual. Look at me, I’m sober, I had my last meal an hour ago, looks like I’m doing pretty good. If you could tell her that, that’d be great.” Tony grinned at Bruce who only continued to smile. “Good to hear, but this time she was a little more… precise what she was worried about.”

Ha, Pepper had squealed. Well, Tony hadn’t forbidden her to talk about it, but it was general knowledge that visiting an intergalactic criminal was something you shouldn’t be bragging about. Tony casually walked to the bar, poured himself and Bruce a drink before sitting down on the couch. “Well, I’m curious. Enlighten me. What are you supposed to talk me out of?“

Now Bruce’s smile was quickly melting away. “I’m not supposed to talk you out of anything. I just want to know if you’re sure if your… little field trip to Asgard is a good idea. This is not a reproach, don’t get me wrong. I know you do a lot for the right research results, but I would only go there if you tied me up and dragged me there.”

“Nah, you probably won’t believe me, but if you have Loki locked up in a cell and when he isn’t threatening you to murder you, he is surprisingly good company. Not that I would like to go on holiday with him, but it’s clearly something different than acting like a psycho 24/7. “ Tony realised that this explanation wouldn’t lighten up the mood, so he took a sip from his drink while Bruce frowned. “Pepper thinks you’re sympathizing with him and I slowly understand where she got that idea from.”

Always these reproaches. Even if Tony would decide to marry a lama tomorrow nobody got to criticise him, because he was fucking Tony Stark. He did what he wanted. “Bruce, you are a scientist. No psychologist, but you know that you can’t only look at the surface of things. Okay, I admit conquering the world with an alien army isn’t the most beautiful surface and proves that he is a weirdo. Yet… if he is talking about something else than how superior he is, he is saying some pretty smart things. Funny things… if you are into sick, twisted humour. Right, I’m there to get the technology, but I’m also talking to him. When I’m talking to him, I don’t totally hate his guts. There’s a difference between ‘sympathizing’ and ‘not totally hating his guts’. Pepper is exaggerating.”

Bruce listened attentively, but his face didn’t give anything away. “What are you talking about… if you don’t mind me asking? I can hardly imagine having a normal conversation with him.”

“I wouldn’t call it normal. After all he is insane. Whatever, doesn’t matter. I brought him a few books to suck up to him. Bruce, he is a nerd.” Tony stopped for a moment when he realised how big his smile was while saying that, but then he continued anyway. “We should get him into some literature class in Oxford. He reads, he draws, he is a hipster… At least a little bit. He is into languages. He learned Latin within two hours and read the Metamorphoses. And the thing with Voltaire! I swear if he had tried to take over the world 300 years ago, we wouldn’t have had any problem! Loki would have sat down and he would have talked the whole time with Voltaire. And proposed to him eventually.”

A pause was needed to take a deep breath. Because Bruce didn’t say thing and instead only looked completely confused, Tony continued. “It is fascinating, because… he can get excited. About normal things, about nice things, meaningful things. Loki likes literature, he looked into my eyes and told me that Voltaire is better than anything he ever read on Asgard. Don’t think that he read every single Asgardian book that exists? He still says that Voltaire is better. Average, mortal literature and he is into him. Doesn’t that make him somehow… human?”

This description very much contradicted Bruce’s idea of Loki, he had been the first to call Loki crazy. Now Bruce was the calm, sensitive person he always was. “I get what you mean. Are you sure that he is for real? Maybe it is just an act, because… why the hell not. I’m no saying he does, I’m just asking.”

Asking wasn’t a problem, because Tony could rule out that possibility rather easily. “I am sure that he is a great actor, but no, impossible. The insane grin was gone, because his eyes were shining. He was impressed, not by me but by the books. Bruce, they make him smile, he appreciates them and he doesn’t want to pretend liking them.”

“Every criminal has interests, preferences, hobbies that seem to be rather normal…”

“Right and John Wayne Gacy entertained kids at parties.” Tony rolled his eyes, but he couldn’t hide his excitement. “Bruce, what I’m trying to say is… There was nothing but contempt for us. For the entire planet, for humanity. Inferior, etc. he only wrinkled his nose when he was looking at us. The whole thing about kneeling. A book about the Enlightenment should make him want to throw up and what does he do? He doesn’t shut up about how great it is. That doesn’t make sense… unless he is able to appreciate things despite being completely mad. If that isn’t fascinating…”

Tony only had to look into Bruce’s eyes to know that he was getting interested. Scientific curiosity couldn’t be matched. “You gave him Voltaire? What else?“

„Highlights of world’s literature. Caesar, Plato, De Cervantes, Dante, Shakespeare, Dostoevsky… the usual. And Twilight.“

Bruce’s eyebrows went up before shaking his head and sighing “Tony…”. His frustration faded away quickly though, there were more interesting things. “Philosophy, politics and entertainment… Next time give him something about basic physics. He’s coming from another world and Asgard’s perception of reality is different than ours. It would be fascinating to see what he has to say about Einstein’s general relativity theory or astrophysics. Or gravity.”

Wow, Bruce was quickly jumping on the bandwagon, Pepper most probably hadn’t thought this would work out like that. “This is a damned good idea… Good way to gather some information. Bruce, you are a genius. This is just great, I have to get some books.”

He was already up on his feet to storm out of the room, but Bruce didn’t like that too much. “Hey! Tony! Wait! We are not done yet!“

„You can’t give me this awesome idea and expect me to wait before putting it into action!”

“You can do that, but not instantly.” Somehow intimidating Bruce pointed at the couch what probably meant that Tony should get his ass back onto it. Wasn’t quite his idea of fun, Tony would rather make a list of books that he would get Loki. For a change some books that Tony had read himself. How should he concentrate on that when Bruce was still talking to him? “You like him.”

It was Thor all over again. „Hey, we are still talking about Loki.“

“I know. You still like him.” Bruce said it like he wasn’t expecting Tony to deny it.

“I think… he is interesting. I like talking to him. I still don’t forget who he is and what he has done.”

To Tony’s surprise Bruce started smiling softly. “That doesn’t mean that you don’t like him. As crazy as it may sound. You liking Loki.”

“That does indeed sound crazy… maybe because… he told me a few things and against Odin my father has good chance of winning the prize for father of the year. I know that doesn’t excuse anything, he could have made another choice, but he didn’t just turn out this way. Every fucked up thing that can happen during childhood happened to him… except being physically abused… I think if someone had been there at a certain moment everything could have worked out differently. Or not… they barely left him any choice but going crazy. God, I am defending him. Bruce, it’s about time to put me to sleep.”

Against all expectations Bruce shook his head. “I am kind of relieved. I guess you still know what you are doing. As long as you don’t start planning his escape.”

“He already does that himself.”

No, bad idea. Mistake, bad mistake.

“What?!”

A bit too fast Tony shrugged, he had to look ridiculous while doing that. „Hey, he is in prison. In prison everything thinks about breaking out, right?“

„Sure. Does he have plans, Tony?“

„Uhm…“

„Oh my god, Tony! Did you at least call the cavalry?!“

“Calm down, he doesn’t have plans! And even if he had plans, he wouldn’t tell me them. I’m the guy who gets him books and sometimes his psychologist, but I’m not his buddy or accomplice. Everything he said is that he wouldn’t stay forever in this cell. Everybody would say that. Details? No, no details and most of the time he is reading or drawing. I didn’t see him planning anything. Calm down, you just told me that I still know what I’m doing.”

Bruce seemed to relax a bit, but unfortunately Tony had given him a reason to distrust him. That wasn’t half as bad as the thought that was crossing his mind right now. Yes, Loki wanted out of his cell and Tony, because he was crazy, wanted to see how he might do that. How would Loki break out?

Afterwards Tony would instantly put him back into his cell, of course. Although he would love to see what Loki might do outside. Yes, Tony had obviously lost his mind.

  
***  


„This is an abomination.“

Tony blinked. A look was lying in front of Loki’s cell. Not just any book, but Twilight. It had pissed off Loki so badly that he wanted it out off his cell. Now he was standing there, with a screwed up face and pointed at said abomination. “Hey, don’t say that you are not into Edward and Bella! They sold more copies than your Voltaire.”

Not a chance that Loki would believe him that. “You jests are not very funny, Man of Iron. Take the book, I do not want to see it here. Thor would have been able to write something more intelligent and I am not even sure if he knows how to write.”

Wow, somebody here definitely didn’t like Twilight. “Funny you don’t like it, I brought you a lot of other stuff to read.” Tony put down the pile of books and sat down onto it. “I haven’t been here for a few days. What did you do during all that time? Except being bored.”

“None of your business.”

Loki turned around, sat down on one of his chairs and was back in total ‘ignoring Tony mode’. Yes, Tony did piss him off, Loki was angry at him. Because Tony didn’t visit him earlier? Loki was a drama queen. „Why are you so bitchy? Because I didn’t call you? How cute. Hey, I brought you some books so we can make up. Thor said you were into books. Or would really prefer flowers? Chocolates? Diamond rings? Don’t act like a girl!“

No, nothing, he was being ignored so hard that Tony doubted his own existence. What the hell? Not with Tony. He had been looking forward to Loki raving about Voltaire. What did he get instead? A pouty god, weird. No, no, no, that didn’t work out. Not with Tony Stark. „Rudolph, say something!“

Nothing, he just turned the page of his book.

“Rock of ages, stop ignoring me!”

Loki didn’t even have the decency to bat an eyelid.

“Loki!” Frustrated Tony crossed his arms in front of his chest. “No idea what you are doing here, but we should be past the silence treatment. We already reached the ‘We insult each other’ phase. You say that you want to kill me, I give you a stupid nickname. I bring you books, you show that you can appreciate normal things. I mention Thor and you call him an idiot. That is our thing!”

Tony didn’t know what made his blood boil. Loki ignoring him or that he wasn’t able to get Loki to react to anything. Unacceptable.

“You know what? Fuck you! It doesn’t work this way! If you want to fuck with me, you get punished and you don’t get the books.“ Yeah, he was acting childish while picking the books back up, but he was Tony Stark and he had right to act stupidly. “I’m outta here, call me when you’re normal again and I expect a pretty good apology!”

After 10 steps Tony turned around and threw one of the physics books on the floor in front of the cell. “It would be too cruel to leave you without this. Now I want an even better apology!”

 ***

The next day Tony stood without books in front of Loki’s cell, arms crossed in front of his chest and waited for his apology. Would Loki get down on his knees? Tony would like that. Please, Tony, forgive me that I was so stupid. One day without your company was unbearable. Yes, music to his ears.

Loki didn’t even look at him, not saying a word.

 ***

“Loki, do you see that? This is Voltaire’s biography. His whole life, notes to all of his works. You can have it, if you talk to me… look at me… stomp with your foot so I’ll know that you are even hearing me… Okay, fuck you too!”

*** 

“Sorry that I freaked out the last time, I didn’t want to shout at you for five minutes. I only meant the first seventeen things I’ve said. Are we okay again? Whatever, blow me…“

 ***

„I have something for you… Thanks to a genius invention called Photoshop I now have a picture of you sitting on the throne, Thor lying dead at your feet. If you want to see it you have to raise your head.”

 ***

“I give up! What do you want from me?!” Tony threw his arms up and gritted his teeth. “If you had never talked to me before, I would get it, but now it doesn’t make any sense. You are dying if you can’t make some silly comment you can annoy me with. If you think that I’m giving up, you can forget that. I drop by everyday, you don’t care. Good, I won’t leave anymore. At all. I’ll have Thor bring me some furniture and then I’ll keep sitting here until you remember how to use that silvertongue.“

To show his determination Tony sat down on the floor and waited. Loki didn’t show any reaction, continued to read and Tony was stubborn. He kept talking. About everything and nothing. He told Loki about his day, his boring meetings with the board, the new design of the Stark Pad, Clint’s suggestion that Natasha should dye her hair black, the fact that Steve still confused his cell phone with the TV command. To make things easier Tony also explained what a cell phone and movies were.

No idea how much time had passed, but Tony was losing his voice and Loki was reading the last page of his book. Finally he shut the book and Loki raised his head, green, expressionless eyes looking at Tony. “You really should leave, Man of Iron.”

“Hey, it can talk! Bob, call the news!”

“Stark, return to Midgard, now.”

“Why? We’re having such an exciting conversation.”

Loki put the book away. “Because in a few moments it will not be possible to return to Midgard and I would prefer spending the short time before my immediate and painful death in better company.”


	14. An old enemy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this has taken quite a while, but now we'll finally get rid of this cliffanger :)

It was this tiny second the human brain needed to register new information. Loki’s comprehension surely didn’t allow him to miss the shock on Tony’s face. After all it was Loki.

No, Tony wouldn’t make it that easy for him, for sure not. Spitefully he crossed his arms in front of his chest. “What? You can’t figure out something better? I thought you were such a creative guy. Death threats all over again.“

Loki’s eyes fixed something behind him and Tony had the feeling that this should upset him. “Stark, I’m not threatening, I am only stating facts. There are only a few minutes left before chaos and death will enter these halls. Now you still have the possibility to elude all of it. A sensible creature would do just that.”

What was his deal this time? Tony didn’t trust him one bit and he reminded himself to be careful. “What are you up to, Loki?”

“Nothing. Time’s running out, Man of Iron. I hope for your sake that you’re not counting on those pathetic soldiers behind you to protect you. They will probably be the first ones to lose their lives.”

Tony didn’t turn around, but he could hear very well that the guards weren’t so stoic and calm anymore for the first time. Probably they were sending a guy to warn Thor or whoever was responsible. Either Loki wanted to mess with them to have a good laugh or there was indeed something going to happen. Nothing good. “Loki, I think it’s great that you decided to actually talk again, but now you gotta make the next step and stop talking in riddles!”

“I do not think my words are cryptic when I am telling you that there is hardly any time left to leave Asgard.” Loki almost looked a bit frustrated, but it quickly got lost underneath so much ignorance.

“Okay, Rudolph, we are now going through the most important questions of storytelling, right? Who, when, how, what and where. Nobody has a fucking idea what you are talking about.”

Tony didn’t know what happened first. The deafening bang or the trembling floor. Perhaps it happened at the same time. For a moment it seemed like the floor was being pulled away underneath Tony’s feet and he fought for his balance. Then it was all silent. For a few seconds there was nothing but Tony’s breathing and Loki’s empty gaze.

“I warned you, Man of Iron. Now it is too late.”

What was too late? Could one of this bloody Vikings tell Tony what the fuck was going on? Earthquakes, Loki who was talking in riddles about death and destruction… Well, that wasn’t that unusual. Behind him Tony heard the clashing and clanking of metal, probably the armours of Bob or his clones. At least they were also a bit alarmed… which wasn’t so good when Tony thought about it. Until now everything in Asgard had worked out quite well.

Another bang and loud voices. Excitement. Panic?

„Okay, rock of ages, I think we have to repeat the questions once more. Who, how, where, when and what the fuck is happening right now?!” Tony would only reluctantly admit that his voice was wavering and the way Loki wasn’t even looking at him was unsettling. So empty. “Despite your naïve, mortal mind you should understand the meaning of all this. This is the first wave. Probably there will be six. If they aren’t going to suffice, there will be more. As many as necessary to find the rat and to kill it.”

“Loki, I know you love hearing yourself talk, but you don’t have to use so many words. It would be fine if you said something that makes fucking sense! What the fuck is going on?!”

The ground shook a second time and the wind seemed to carry a scream down into the dungeon of this huge palace. How close had this person to be, so Tony could hear them scream?

Loki was still looking past him, his lips hinting at a smile. The sight made Tony’s stomach turn, just because there wasn’t a sign of madness or malice in it, like he had seen so many times with Loki. Joy was just as impossible to find. The smile was superficial as if Loki knew something that nobody else had a clue about, but the knowledge wouldn’t make any difference in the end. “Somebody is going to get punished for their failures, Man of Iron. If you fail at conquering a world, you have to be prepared for your own being conquered.”

Tony started feeling dizzy, because 100 thoughts were terrorising him at the same time. Most of it was probably rubbish, but one thing clearly stood out: Why didn’t he bring his suit? Why did he accept this ridiculous term? Had he really been that eager to get that unimportant technology? To come to Asgard without arms as a sign of peace and where was he now? In the middle of an invasion and that without his suit and without Jarvis. Tony Stark was fair game. He was screwed. Even worse he was standing in front of the cell of this guy who was responsible for this invasion. They were here for Loki.

Fucking hell, they were here for Loki.

“The Chitauri want to kill you? I fucked them up with a kickass and heroic act! Something I never want to talk about again, but I have atomised them!”

The smile on Loki’s face got a bit sarcastic, but even that didn’t make it to calm Tony down. “Were you really thinking that you had wiped out an entire race? I have to disappoint you. There are enough left of them to invade Asgard. I do think it’s very possible that they might remember you. Since you’re not wearing your armour it would be wise to run as far as your legs will carry you.”

“Forget that, Rudolph! It won’t happen like you would…”

“My lord…”

Tony turned around and behind him he saw a new battalion of guards. When did they show up here? Nevermind, they were probably here to secure the area. “Nice that the cavalry finally shows up! Doesn’t anybody have a machine gun with you? That could be very useful.”

“My lord, the prince instructed us to escort you to the throne room. The entrance to the dungeons will be sealed.”

“What? You know where you can stick that nice idea? Seal the entrance? You guys and Thor do realise that this army is going to come straight down here. For the second prince here?” Tony pointed at Loki, but none of the guards showed a reaction. Damn, they were like Steve, little, nicely trained soldiers who were only following orders and would run around in circles if they had nobody to tell them what to do.

“You’re wasting your breath, Stark and since you probably don’t have much of it left, you should use it with care. Go and take the goons with you, I neither want their nor your company while I’m dying. It doesn’t have to be even more painful than necessary. I thank you for the books, Stark.”

With disturbing calmness Loki sat back down on one of his chairs and put a book in his lap. Was this the pose of a moribund man?

“You know that they’re coming because of you! And all you wanna do is sitting around?!“

“My lord! Prince Thor was very…”

“Thor can fuck himself!”

Loki smiled, but didn’t look up from his book and before Tony knew what was happening somebody had grabbed his arm. “Hey! You’re not a twenty year old hot blond! Get your hands off me!“

Could it get any more humiliating? Tony was being dragged away by some tiny guards. The great Tony Stark, Iron Man. Well, at least they were Asgardians and that made them superheroes, didn’t it? “Stop manhandling me! Stop it!”

They didn’t stop, without any effort they were pulling him along, out off the dungeons and closed a heavy gate behind them to seal off the stairs. Loki was down there. Together with a bunch of intergalactic criminals.

“Hey! I’m out of the dungeon! Stop it!“

Once again he didn’t have any luck and they actually dragged him into the throne room. The whole way Tony could hear it. Rumbling, thunder, explosions. State of war. Like back in New York. Were they really wasting the power of these soldiers to bring Tony from one room into the next? Finally they were letting go of him. “Thank you! Don’t you have something better to do? Where is Thor!? I want to talk to the hammer wielding prince!“

Without a second glance the guards let him be and turned away. What the flying fuck? He wasn’t just some guy! He was Tony Stark! His presence was an honour to Asgard. „Wait! In the Avengers hierarchy I’m totally equal to Thor and because I’m better looking I am more important! I want to see the man with the hammer!“

„My son is fighting in front line, Man of Iron and is trying to defend his home against the enemy.”

Only now Tony realised that somebody was standing behind him. A woman, blonde, nice to look at, elegant and graceful. Too much of lady to be Thor’s mom, but she had just said it herself. “Hey, we haven’t officially met yet, but I don’t think that now is the right moment to exchange pleasantries… when every two seconds something is blowing up. If Thor is out there, I gotta go there too. Could you please show me the fastest way? Pretty please? Without some stupid guards bossing me around?”

She obviously had a sense of humour, because she was actually smiling, even though the earth was shaking again. At least her eyes couldn’t conceal her worry. “That will not be possible since Thor was very clear when he said you should remain in the palace. To your own safety.”

“Oh, great! I am being locked away like a helpless girl! No offense…“ Tony took a deep breath and tried to sort his thoughts out. He shouldn’t be here. He needed to know what kind of fight was really going on, to see if he could help… to find out if the Chitauri could even get to the dungeon. “Could you tell me how I can get to Thor? I need to talk to him. Make sure that everything is going alright and I could help!”

“My son is a capable general and unfortunately this isn’t the first battle he has to fight. I do also know that he thinks highly of you and that you are a great warrior of Midgard. This here is Asgard and your abilities won’t be as helpful as on Midgard.” She continued to wear this smile, that was probably meant to reassure him, but it did anything but. “Nice to hear, but does he also keep in mind to send some guys down to the dungeons?! After all they want to go down there and kill his brother!”

The words had already left Tony’s mouth when he realised that he wasn’t only talking to Thor’s mother. She was also Loki’s mother. Anyhow, there was no time to think about every single word when shit was going down. Not that Tony was seeing any of it, he only heard those terrible noises.

“The All-father isn’t sure about the Chitauri’s intentions. He thinks that… there might be a possibility that the Chitauri are in Asgard to free Loki.” Judging by her face even thinking about this made her sick, because it was utterly ridiculous. Tony would have loved to agree, but Odin being father of the year actually worked for him right now. “Another reason to add a few thousand guards to the dungeons! Doesn’t matter if they’re coming to free him or to kill… They are coming for him! We both want that they don’t get to him, right?!”

Yes, Tony knew that he was yelling at the wrong person, but it was about time to admit that he was panicking. Because of Loki. Since when was everything about Loki? Nevermind.

“The palace isn’t the main target of the battle. The worst attacks are focusing on the center of the city and it’s the duty of the king to protect Asgard’s citizens, not the criminals in the dungeons.” Another thing she hated to say, she could barely voice the words. Tony could see that she was different. The word ‘criminal’ had a strange sound to it and…

“Fuck!” The bang was deafening and the vibrations made the ceiling tremble. They were close, really close and Tony was wasting time. “Uhm… your… whatever… I know I am not a seven feet tall, muscled, blonde guy, but I can help, not just standing around. I just need a weapon and I will take care of myself…”

“You want to go back to the cell of my son.” No question, just a knowing glance. “Why? To protect him or to make sure that his former allies will not open the door to his cage?”

Trick question. She wanted to know what Tony was thinking about her son. Parts of the ceiling were coming down, but Loki’s mother wanted to be sure that Tony wasn’t… What? He couldn’t think. In such situations he needed Jarvis to stay calm, to know that somebody was here to have his back. Or his suit. Tony needed his damned suit to blow some aliens up.

… immediate and painful death…

No, Tony had to know what was going on and they couldn’t kill Loki before Tony’s research was finished and bloody successful. Or before he had given Loki Voltaire’s biography. “If you will pardon my saying so… I don’t think that they want to give Loki flowers and somebody should tell Thor, because he likes to lose focus of the really important things!”

Loki’s mother watched him intently and Tony realised that he was losing it. She wanted to protect Loki. If for her all of Asgard could go to hell right now as long as she was sure that Tony wasn’t one threat more to Loki’s life. Yes, she knew exactly that the whole purpose of this invasion was to kill Loki. What were they still doing here?!

“Or do I finally get a weapon so I can help!”

That didn’t happen, because loud howling filled the room. Feet that dove over the floor. Metal clashing against metal and the sound of… laser beams? Tony barely had time to turn his head, the doors flew open and the fighting entered the room. How desperately had he hoped to never see those ugly Chitauri faces again, but here they are. Dozens. Fighting to the death with the guards who had been positioned in front of the door. Fighting? More like butchering and Tony in the middle of it, without his suit, without weapons, like a helpless civilian.

And one of these disgusting things had already spotted him. Okay, thinking, Tony was a genius, he could get out of any situation. Weak spots, soft spots! With his bare hands he would be able to beat up this ugly alien… if he wasn’t wearing an armour. And carrying a weapon. Which he was pointing at Tony… no panic! Not panicking!

The Chitauri fired at him and Tony hadn’t been aware of possessing such great reflexes. He dove down, without giving it a second thought. The impact on the floor hurt like hell, Tony groaned, but he was still alive. That could not be taken for granted. In this fucking huge hall every single movement caused an echo and Tony was under the impression that about thousand people were trying to kill each other. More energy beams were flying into his direction and Tony somehow made it to duck behind one of the many columns.

A horrible feeling to be so helpless, something that Tony had never wanted to feel again. To hell with Odin and the damned deal to show up without weapons. Now Tony was hiding behind a column, while… even Loki’s mother was kicking the Chitauri’s asses. Great, a queen in a nice dress who wasn’t expected to fight was doing just that. What was Tony doing? Hiding, ducking his head and imagining how the rest of these fuckers were getting down into the dungeon, killing a defenseless prince in his cage. No, definitely not.

In all this chaos there was a good chance for Tony to sneak out and to get down there. He had no idea what he could even do there, but he wouldn’t wait here and abandon Loki to his fate.

… immediate and painful death…

Tony got up, pressed his back against the column and tried to ignore all the noises around him. Just close your eyes and go… from one column to the other and he would be out. Quickly Tony looked straight ahead and Asgardians were still fighting Chitauri, no winner in sight. If there was even going to be one, blood coloured the floor and it was impossible to say which side was going shed more of it. What if it already looked just like that in the dungeons? Tony took a deep breath and started to run, the short distance of six feet to the next column. Good, arms and legs were still there, no part of Tony was missing.

That state probably wouldn’t last long, because another Chitauri was standing right next to him. Well, that was it. Tony was dead and Loki was probably too. Fucking Asgard. Fucking Odin. What a fucking ending for Iron Man…

But his wasn’t the end. The Chitauri broke down right in front of him just as if somebody had buried a knife in his back. Finally he was lying dead on the floor and Tony stared at him for a moment. Somebody just saved his life and if hell wasn’t breaking loose Tony would have to say thank you, but now there was no time. There was something more important… still in the grasp of the dead Chitauri. His weapon, still pointing at Tony.

For once the New York incident had a good side effect. Tony had taken advantage of the situation and had gathered numerous parts of the alien technology. Therefore he knew how these things were working. Bingo!

Frenetically Tony grabbed the stick and tore it from those dead fingers. He didn’t even have time for the great feeling of not being useless and helpless anymore. A gaze over his own shoulder showed him that the Asgardians were slowly but surely gained control over the fight. Even better, no reason to stay any longer. As fast as his legs were carrying him Tony ran out and thanked his genius brain that remembered the way to the dungeons. Around the next corner the next battle was waiting for him, about 10 Chitauri and just as many Asgardians. Tony used the opportunity to practice his handling of the weapon, brought down two of the disgusting monsters before he sneaked passed the fight, along the wall.

These damned things were everywhere. Hopefully they were too dumb to actually find the dungeons and Tony was getting all worked out about nothing. Sadly the sounds of battle didn’t fade away the closer Tony got. Quite the opposite. Tony refused to think about it, but on the other hand he needed a plan. Go in and blow them up. Why not?

The running part was definitely over when Tony reached the downward stairway. When they guards had dragged him out, they had closed the gate behind him. There was nothing left of it. Gone. Burned to the ground. Fuck.

All doubts about their intentions gone. Tony stared at the charred remains for a moment, then he couldn’t stay still anymore. How much time did he already waste…

Without thinking any further about it Tony ran down the stairs and was horrified to discover more than a single dead body. Asgardians. Chitauri. Asgardians. Guards. Which meant that they hadn’t simply walked in here. Hopefully. The sounds of the battle resounded from the walls, but Tony was having a hard time listening to it. He was a hero, no moral role model, but he killed the bad guys. Yes, Tony was the perfect guy for this, even though he had no idea what he was doing here.

Two Chitauri were waiting at the lower landing and they never knew what happened to them. They went down and Tony didn’t even bat an eyelid. As far as Tony could see not a single cell was still intact, no force field. Shit…

No, no. That was good. Maybe. Maybe this was a totally normal attack on Asgard and they only wanted create chaos, so they were releasing the prisoners. Tony was allowed to dream, right? Sadly Loki had said something different.

The advantage of this straight hall was that Tony quickly got a good look at the current situation and it made him sick to his stomach. The guards hadn’t given up the dungeon without a fight, but they hadn’t been prepared either. All these guys that Tony had never paid attention to were now free and were joyfully slaughtering the remaining Asgardians. Tony wouldn’t be able to just walk past them. Apart from that, he really should be helping these people, but… he had to go to this damned last cell!

Thinking was a waste of time! If there was one thing Loki didn’t have, it was time! He was Tony Stark! Go! So Tony continued running, terribly missing his suit and pointed his staff at the 7 feet tall monster in front of him that was grabbing a guard by the neck. Who did this thing think it was to get between Tony and his destination?

Tony fired, hitting it directly between the shoulder blades. Reason enough for the monster to let go of the guard and turn to Tony. How ugly could a single creature be? Instead of eyes only black holes, pale, grey skin and more teeth than Tony had hair. It roared, stomped towards Tony. No, he didn’t have time for this. So Tony fired a second time, a third time, but the monster only came closer and just didn’t want to die. With this huge fist he could easily squash Tony’s head. It wasn’t allowed to reach him, it couldn’t. His fingers were almost shaking while activating over and over the mechanism that released the bundled energy – the ugly thing got hit another four times. By now it was right in front of Tony and he saw his life going by when this abomination finally began to sway and fell over.

Only seconds to react.

Tony jumped to the side, fell to the floor and made it just in time to pull his legs up. Under this giant piece of stinking flesh he would have suffocated, that was for sure. The relief was chased away by a throbbing pain in his other leg. Tony felt around and found his jeans to be wet. Red. The battle had left his traces all over the floor, parts of armour, shards, and splints. One of them was stuck in Tony’s thigh. Clenching his teeth Tony pulled it out in one swift movement and quickly got back up on his feet.

The air seemed to be pressed out of this room and out of his lungs. Tony shook his head. No, no, no, not now! No way this was happening now! He was Tony Stark and he wasn’t having a panic attack. He was in Asgard, Chitauri were fighting Asgardians all around him, he didn’t have his suit nor Jarvis anywhere near him and Loki maybe was already dead.

He didn’t have any time left!

The adrenalin came back at the exact right moment. Tony raised his staff, held it up in front of him and started running. The pain in his leg was gruesome, he felt slightly dizzy, but he would be damned if he was getting slowed down by this. Eyes fixed on the end of the corridor, he just rushed through the fights in front of him, blindly shooting with his staff and the whole time he could only think about reaching that stupid cell. No matter what was waiting there for him.

Something his Tony’s temple. It startled him more than it hurt him and he reflexively fired into the direction whatever object that come from. Blood was running down his forehead, into his eyes.

Shit…

Tony kept running, bumped into someone… pushing them to the side and he finally made something out. More than he bargained for.

“Come on, you ugly, stinking creature! I will show you mercy and rip your wretched heart out…”

For a moment both sources of pain seemed to be numbed. This fucking, arrogant, smug, divine asshole was still alive! He must be feeling quite good if he was insulting someone. Two more steps and Tony could see him. He had been wrong. A cell was still intact. A single one. Loki’s.

A horde of Chitauri were assembled in front of it, among them two who were considerably larger than the rest of them. They were giants and Tony knew what they were here for. Loki was standing in his cell, in front of the force field. His face was showing disgust, arrogance and although he was the one in a cage, he was looking down at them. But for how long? One of the Chitauri was tampering with the mechanism to shut off the force field and Loki started to grin. One Tony had seen before.

“Go on. Come in my little personal kingdom. I have to warn you, I haven’t had company in a long time and I might have forgotten my manners…”

Inside? Tony’s thoughts were tumbling and he remembered his own notes. The force field troubled the transmission. Was it troubling Loki’s magic generally? Tony had thought that the force field was mainly serving as metal bars and preventing him from walking away. What if it was reducing his powers and Loki simply hadn’t wanted to let him know that? The Chitauri obviously weren’t able to kill him through the force field.

Tony shook that thought off. There was no more time for strategy, better to rely on brute force. Completely imprudent and most probably a suicide mission – that was Tony’s cup of tea. “Hey! Whoever wants to have an audience with the prince has to ask for my permission!”

They barely noticed him, especially since the Chitauri now had reached its goal. The force field flickered, Loki took a step back and green light surrounded him. Tony expected him to vanish, but instead Loki was suddenly clad in his armour, a dagger in his hand. Why wasn’t getting away?! Whereto?

The two Chitauri-giants walked forward. Slowly without any kind of reaction they entered Loki’s cell and a second later the force field was reinstalled. This was an execution. They locked him up with their two biggest monsters in this tiny cell and inside there they would kill him. With bare hands, a way more painful than using one of the weapons they had brought. Too bad that they hadn’t expected Tony. All he had to do was shutting the fucking force field off. Piece of cake.

Perhaps he should have kept his mouth shut, now the Chitauri were turning to him. No possibilities to get cover, to hide, just like Loki.

Most likely Loki would die his cruel and painful death in company after all. Just like Tony.


	15. Illusion and reality

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everybody,
> 
> So this is it, final chapter. I hope you had fun until here and that the end will satisfy you. Thank you for the comments, the kudos and especially for reading the story :D

With a focused shot Tony took care of the first Chitauri, but instantly afterwards he had to avoid the attack of another one, threw himself to the side and cried out from the pain in his leg. He wouldn’t survive this here longer than half a minute. Alone against six Chitauri. Even Loki had better chances than him who was busy fighting two giants. Brutal fits that he avoided almost elegantly, that fucking god. But how long against two of them?

Tony crawled to the side, fired his weapon when a Chitauri did the same thing and both energy blasts met each other, the pressure wave throwing them all back. Now his head was throbbing so badly that Tony barely made it to raise it again. Right above him there was one of these disgusting aliens, raising his staff.

The pointy end was about to be rammed into Tony’s neck. What a fucked up way to die. And Tony would never know what Loki would have had to say about physics…

A bang resounded in his ears and the Chitauri above him was crushed against the next wall. Reflexively Tony got up and realised that one of the guards had just saved his life. These hotshots had finally succeeded in taking out most of the guys that had broken out and were now getting busy with the Chitauri. Those were coming towards him and Tony had to grab his own weapon. The fight began anew all around him and Tony only wanted to sneak through it and deactivate that damned force field.

Out of the corner of an eye he could see how Loki was receiving a hard punch and the force of it knocked him down to the floor. Tony opened his mouth, wanting to scream, but Loki lived once again up to his reputation of being a sneaky son of bitch and rammed his dagger into the giant’s lower thigh. Yes, good! Just pull through a little longer. A guy like Loki could easily take down two of them…

Tony’s legs wanted to move towards the cell, but some Chitauri were getting in his way. Damn it! A guard showed up next to Tony, so he didn’t have to take care of them all alone. But why seemed there to be an infinite amout of them? As soon as a Chitauri was on the floor, a new one was standing in front of him. Tony’s body was growing tired, he was hurting all over, he was bleeding from more than two wounds and the dizziness came back.

It wasn’t a real scream. More like a moan, pain, surprise. Tony turned his head around and saw Loki pulling his own dagger out of his left side. His face was contorted, but the pain was instantly replaced by pure hatred and the god lunged at his attacker.

They were killing him and Tony still couldn’t reach the force field.

One last time Tony was overcoming his own limits, used his staff as a club, punched everybody out of his way and finally there was nobody left between him and that cell.

Son of bitch – one of the giants was lying dead on the floor, blood was streaming from his head where the dagger had found a better target.

Way too quickly the feeling of hope waned again. Loki was breathing hard, his movements seemed to be slow and there was no sign of him attacking. Instead he was busy defending himself against the remaining giant. Every time when he had to move his body to the left side the god hissed and Tony could see blood running down his side.

„Loki, just another second! I get you out of there!“

Tony didn’t know if he had heard him and he couldn’t look at him any longer. Instead he was staring at the wall where the Chitauri had worked on shutting off the force field. There were now buttons where there hadn’t been any before. Logic. This was a source of energy and all Tony had to do was to cut it off. Violence wasn’t a good idea, he had to disable a sensor. Tony had looked at it, he knew how it worked. He had to know.

Half a minute. What a fucking long time for a genius, but then the force field was finally flashing up before rapidly collapsing. The scream of joy and a smart line still didn’t want to pass Tony’s lips. The sounds of battle all around him had almost disappeared, therefore he could hear even better what was happening right in front of him.

Loki’s panting.

Tony turned his head and saw how the giant was going down. The crazy reindeer had really done it! Yes! Loki’s skin was white as snow, he was staggering and eventually fell down on his knees, one hand pressed against his stomach. When he raised it again, it was blood-red. On Loki’s face Tony could read something like confusion, as if he was surprised that he was bleeding. Or how heavily.

Without making a sound Loki was finally slumped down. Like there was no bone in his body. Then he kept lying there motionless and new blood mixed with the one already on the floor.

No, impossible. Loki couldn’t bleed. The Hulk had beaten him up and he hadn’t shed a single drop of blood. The Hulk’s fist alone would have punched a hole through a human being and Loki had gotten up 10 minutes after his beating. So no, he couldn’t be bleeding.

But he was.

“Rudolph!” Tony climbed into the open cell and crouched down next to Loki. Oh, damn. An overwhelming sickness rose up inside of him and together with the up flaring panic, it threatened to paralyze him. A hole was gaping in Loki’s armour. Tony couldn’t tell how deep the wound in Loki’s stomach was, because blood was pretty much sputtering from it, making it impossible to see anything else but blood. Blood. Blood. Blood.

Only Loki’s eyes were still green. Unfocused, looking at Tony, if he recognized him wasn’t quite clear. But there was still life in them. Hastily Tony ripped off his jacket, crumpled it up and pressed it onto the way too large wound. Within seconds the fabric turned dark red.

“Okay, everything’s fine. That was great, Rudolph. You fucked them up, cool stuff. They’re dead as fuck, high-five! Or better not. We’ll fix you, it’s not that bad.“ Tony’s voice shivering, hoarse voice betrayed his words. The god of lies was bleeding to death right in front of him and Tony was lying to him. Tony was pressing the jacket as hard as he could against the wound, raising his head, searching for help.

The guards had won back the dungeons, only three Chitauri left and all of the prisoners were down on the floor. Just a couple of seconds left before they were done with them too. “Hey! Bob! Anybody! You there with the helmet!“

A few guards actually realised that Tony was yelling at them and were rushing to them. Thank god, everything was going to be fine, soon…

Loki’s breathing became staggered and blood was running out of his mouth.

„Hey, hey, calm done… it’s fine… it’s fine…“ His eyes back on the guards Tony hissed „What are you looking at?! Get help! A doctor! A healer! A shaman, someone who can help!”

Why weren’t they moving?! Instead they were only watching Loki with wide eyes who started trembling, almost convulsing. Could they hardly believe it too that Loki was able to bleed? If you could still call it bleeding if somebody was so obviously dying. “Move, damn it! Don’t you see that he’s bleeding out!?”

This was exactly what he didn’t want to say in front of Loki, although he most certainly knew that himself.

And why weren’t these idiots long gone and tried to get help?! “What are you still doing here, you fucking assholes?! This is your prince and he needs help!”

They looked uncertain and Tony would have killed them if he didn’t need them. The possibility to take his hand off Loki’s wound didn’t even exist for him and this wasn’t the only place where he was losing blood. Would Tony get up and leave now, Loki had only a few minutes left. And these guys were just standing there and didn’t help!

„Do you want to be responsible for Thor’s little brother dying, because you were moving too slowly?!“

This finally seemed to breathe some life into those guys and they turned around, running off. In relief Tony watched how the hall was emptied, the other guards had already disappeared to help out in the other fights… or to get help. Hopefully.

Tony put his arm around Loki’s waist, his fingers got immediately moist and he had to take a deep breath to suppress the urge to throw up. He had seen how Loki had pulled the dagger out of his own side… but a wound so deep? No, he had no other choice. Tony pressed his bare hand against the wound, knowing it was useless, but he had to do something. Calming him down. Loki. And himself. The boys in the nice armours would get somebody who could help. They would…

„Everything’s fine, rock of ages… I’m making a fool out of myself right now… you’re a god after all, those are just some scratches… Don’t do anything stupid. You can’t start dying on me here, not before I have all my data. You also didn’t piss off Thor enough… Besides that it would be pretty embarrassing that they only needed two Chitauri to kill you…”

Why was he always talking without switching on his brain when he was nervous? Except this time Tony wasn’t nervous. He was terrified.

Loki’s eyes fell closed for a second, then reopened them again instantly and only now Tony got the impression that he was really looking at him. Was Loki afraid? No, for sure not. Loki couldn’t bleed and he couldn’t be afraid.

Everything turned red and Tony needed a moment to realise that his own blood was running down into his eyes. Erratically he rubbed his face against his shoulder to wipe off the blood. No matter how this thing was going to turn out, Tony was going to change the colour of his suit.

“I told you that it would be better to run away…” With every word a new trickle of blood was coming out of the corner of Loki’s mouth.

“I have short legs, I wouldn’t have gotten very far… Now shut up and try to keep some of that blood inside of your body. That stuff is already covering the whole damned place…” Tony wanted to slap himself for every syllable, but his hands were busy. Also Loki started to cough and Tony’s shirt got dozens of little red stains. No matter when the guards would come back with help, it would be too late. That knowledge washed over Tony like cold heavy rains.

If he knew that there was no doubt that Loki also knew. Because of that he didn’t bother to shut his mouth like he was supposed to. For so long he had been able to ignore Tony and now that he was bleeding to death it was suddenly so hard to stay silent? “I still have a question left, Stark…”

Did he? Tony had no idea, but there wasn’t anything in the world right that was less important. Especially since Tony could feel that his jacket by now was completely drenched. “I told you to shut up. This a fucking uncomfortable situation for me! You don’t make it better by talking!“

„I am sorry that my death comes at an inconvenient time for you, but I still have one question left…“ The coughing got worse, turned into a death rattle and Tony was fighting down a panic attack. He was dying right under Tony’s fingers.

“So ask your fucking question!”

It wouldn’t make any difference anyway…

Loki was struggling for air, a gruesome sound, pressing his eyes shut and… grinned at Tony. “Isn’t it terribly humiliating to fall for the same trick two times in a row?”

“What…?”

Tony didn’t understand what was happening when a green glimmer covered Loki and his body under Tony’s hands started to glow. The only thought Tony still had was how much he loathed magic. And Loki…

Suddenly Tony reached into nothingness and Loki was gone. Vanished into thin air. Gone. Tony stared at his hands only to see that there was no blood on them. Not a single drop. Same thing with his shirt. Loki couldn’t bleed.

No, he was laughing. It reminded him of the chuckle of a child, so amused.

Still disbelieving Tony raised his head and saw Loki standing in front of the cell. Arms crossed in front of his chest, this stupid, arrogant grin on his face and he was still wearing that tunic and those fucking leather pants. The armour wasn’t to be seen. Miserable, damned, dirty, malicious… brilliant, wicked son of bitch!

“You…”

Loki raised a hand and cut him short. “I have to thank you for opening the door for me. I will grant you the illusion you desire so much.” The grin was getting bigger and Tony thought to see a little bit of the old madness in it. “Just not the way you imagined it.”

“What the…”

Tony didn’t get any further, because Loki was moving his hand in an elegant gesture and this green glimmer showed up a second time. However not on Loki, but on Tony. In shock he stared down at himself and absolutely everything was different. He was taller, his legs were longer, his whole fucking body had changed. Not to mention his clothes. “Why am I wearing your clothes?“ Fuck, that wasn’t even his voice!

When he raised his head again to look at Loki all colour left his face. “What are you doing?”

Loki was activating the force field. This wretched rat was locking Tony in this tiny cell! “Let me out! What have you done to me!?”

“I merely created a little image to buy me some time… Not that I need it, but I find the idea… too exquisite to not do it.” Again this chuckle and Tony was tempted to hammer his fists against the force field, but he knew better. “You ungrateful piece of shit! I don’t want to let you bleed to death and you lock me in! I should have papered your walls with Twilight!”

Even for that Loki spared a grin. „A pity that I have to leave the books behind, but I think I will find some copies in an Midgardian library. I would love to stay a little longer, but I am tired of this place. Goodbye, Man of Iron. It was a surprising pleasure.“

Green glimmer, Loki’s face disappeared, but the grin stayed. Loki had turned into one of the guards and even had to nerve to do a little bow, before turning around and… leaving.

No, no, no, no, no!

“Loki! Come back! I will bend your helmet and strangle you with it! Come back, damn it!”

Not a chance, the criminal walked gleefully down the hall and Tony sat in the cell, wearing Loki’s face. Tony would definitely stop saving other people’s lives. Or at least the lives of crazy gods with a reindeer fetish. Frustrated Tony sat down on the floor after finding some space that wasn’t sullied by blood. How embarrassing to get fooled like that. Fucking ass… who was unfortunately also a damned genius… using this invasion and getting out of this fight without a single scratch. No, Tony wasn’t impressed, Tony was angry and he would stay angry. Sure.

Sighing Tony grabbed one of the books, he couldn’t do anything but wait.

If Loki had been hurt, he would have bled to death before anybody had shown up. Now some guards were finally showing up and among them Thor. Finally! He would tell him something!

“Thor, get me out of here! I have a foot that is looking forward to kick your brother’s ass! His little torture fantasy, you remember? I am all for it now!”

What could one expect from Loki’s big brother. Sadly he was still a little slow. “Loki? I was told you were hurt… where is the Man of Iron?”

Tony didn’t have a mirror, but it had already been obvious when he had been looking down at himself. Loki had a great sense of humour. “It’s me, point break! Your psycho brother got away and put me in here with his stupid mug instead of my own! Oh my god! Is this permanent?! I don’t want to have such ridiculous cheek bones for the rest of my life!“

It couldn’t be more obvious that he wasn’t Loki, right? Unfortunately Thor looked still tired from the fight and his brain didn’t catch up with the situation. “Loki, what game are you playing? Where is…”

“I’m fucking bleeding! Your brother got away and locked me in! Let me out! I will tell Natasha that you’re scared of her if you don’t do it! Listen to how I talk! Do I sound like a crazy fuck with a British accent? This is like a scene from a bad movie! Talking of movies, I do know what a movie is! Would your brother know about the Wizard of Oz!?”

At least Thor seemed to have some doubts now and indicated one of the guards to come to him. Sure, great, group disscusion. Why not? Thank god that wasn’t necessary, because Loki’s illusion was only temporary. It vanished in another green glimmer and Tony realised in relief that he was again himself. “You are going to let me out now that I’m again incredibly attractive?!”

 ***

“Welcome home, sir.”

“Jarvis, don’t take it personal, but I don’t want to hear a single word. No guests, visitors or anybody else who wants to piss me off. I want to lie down and sleep. No calls from the Avengers and if Fury calls… hack S.H.I.E.L.D’s server and infect it with a virus…” Tony growled, threw his jacket to the floor and walked straight into his bedroom.

Sleep, he didn’t have other plans. Fuck Asgard, fuck Thor and especially Loki. Who was on the loose again. Tony’s life sucked.

Another reason to go to sleep and to not get up again before next week. Unfortunately he didn’t get that far.

In the middle of Tony’s bed there was a pile of paper. It wasn’t Pepper’s style to put him documents on his bed. Tony had a bad feeling about this. “Jarvis? Something that I should know about?“

„I am sorry, but I have to admit that I haven’t registered how these papers were brought into your bedroom. From one second to another they were just… there.”

Well, Tony didn’t even have to ask who was responsible for this. Maybe he should throw the pile away and not even look at it. What could Loki have written down anyway? _Got ya_! Or did he want to scare him? _Hey, I’m on the loose again and can easily get into your apartment?_ At first glance it were more than 100 pages. Not even Loki could gloat so much. Maybe it was a detailled protocol of his plan? To show off? Tony wouldn’t put it past him…. Probably the first ten pages were dedicated to Tony’s stupitiy.

Loki wasn’t that wrong, because Tony was stupid enough to actually want to read these pages. Hey, Tony had bled and some parts of Asgard had to be rebuild, how much worse could it get? Sighing Tony let himself fall down on the bed and after a few minutes he reached for the pile. It was only paper, Loki wouldn’t have poisoned it. Moreover he had had more than enough opportunities to finish Tony off.

Still frustrated Tony placed his head on a pillow and started reading. Loki had even been nice enough to tie the pages together.

Anthology was scribbled on the first page.

The hand writing of a girl, so elegant and with lots of squiggles. Pretty to look at, but when you knew that a man had written this, it was quite obvious that the author was an asshole.

Tony flipped to the first page and wasn’t confronted with text, but with a dragon. Loki’s drawing of a dragon. Not done with carbon or a pencil, but brightly coloured and so true-to-life that Tony was getting scared that the mystical creature would jump out of the page and attack him. It was Loki’s drawing, so who knew what he had done with it. A curse or some other mumbo-jumbo. He was crazy after all.

And a fucking artist. Every single scale of this dragon was nicely worked out and the way he was wiggling through the roots of this tree looked incredibly real. Good, Loki should give up his career as a master criminal and should become a professional artist.

After another admiring gaze upon the dragon Tony turned the page and what followed was an explanation about Loki’s drawing. A whole page full of this fucking beautiful handwriting.

  
_The dragon Nidhöggr lives in the world tree Yggdrasil._ _He is gnawing on its roots and chewing on the corpses of the inhabitants of Náströnd…_

 _  
_ Now that was sounding nice and sane. Loki’s description was very detailed and filled more than three pages. Morbid, but fascinated, Loki wrote the way he talked. Arrogant, but with style. Still Tony didn’t quite understand the purpose. Tony flipped quickly through the entire script and couldn’t stop himself from being amazed. Giants, dwarfs, elves, goblins, gnomes, simply everything and everyone was mentioned in Loki’s anthology. Illustrated and detailed descriptions. Where they lived, how they looked, their societies, their history, curiosities… Loki explained entire universes, realities and dimensions that even Tony hadn’t dared to dream of. It was hard to believe, but all the questions Tony had asked were answered in this script. In detail, with cross references and even comparisons with humans could be found, which Loki had definitely written down for Tony. Now he was desperately trying to not be impressed, but Tony was. Loki had sat down and had written over a hundred pages exclusively for Tony. The reason why still wasn’t clear, but his first idea about Loki wanting to mock him was definitely wrong. This was a gift. Loki had made Tony a gift and by the looks of it… it was supposed to make him happy. It was a nice gesture.

Creepy. Cool, but somehow creepy.

To find some proof that Loki was still pulling some sort of joke on him Tony flipped to the last page and found something that resembled a final note.

  
_Midgard_

  
What? Loki wrote some tiny lines about Earth on the last page? Once an arrogant ass, always an arrogant ass.

_Midgard – a highly underdeveloped world which hasn’t reached an intellectual level, nor does it possess the technical advance to even be compared to Asgard. Recent developments have surprisingly shown that even this world possesses a little amount of treasures which are worthy enough to be preserved and explored. This includes some of their philosophic doctrines and ideas. Maybe this also applies to a certain individual of the human race who against all expectations turned out to eventually be interesting. Further examination of this person will be necessary to prove this theory._

Tony blinked and read the last lines one more time. That was unexpected, but a threat sounded different. Entirely different. No, this was… Tony didn’t have the words to describe it, but he didn’t have to. Loki would show up himself and explain what it was all about.

A smile appeared on Tony’s face. Fine, Loki could show up if he wanted to. Tony was even looking forward to it. This was nobody’s business but theirs and S.H.I.E.L.D definitely didn’t have to know about it.


End file.
